X-Men: Vengeance
by MysteryWriter2187
Summary: In the not-too-distant future of 2032, Cable recruits a reclusive Laura Kinney to travel to the mysterious island of Genosha and save the mutant species. Full summary inside. Rated T for language and violence. Set after LOGAN, so there are spoilers. Some VERY BIG spoilers. Please R&R.
1. Prologue - Logan

_Having embarked into a larger world than she realized in **Logan** , Laura Kinney is recruited by Cable to help save the mutant species from extinction. With help from Deadpool and Gambit, Laura ventures to the mysterious island of Genosha, where a shocking revelation causes her to rethink her heroes and their ideals._

* * *

"No. No. No." Laura panted heavily, running past the dead body of X-24 to the tree where Logan was. She grunted as she aggressively hacked at the wood that had stuck Logan to the tree. He groaned as he slipped down from the tree, a large chunk of the bark still protruding from the bleeding spot on his chest.

Laura looked at Logan as he groaned, panting as she said "no. No. No."

She looked up to see the aged mutant before her, as he opened his mouth to speak. "G... G... Go..."

"No." Laura said, her nose starting to run as she wept quietly. Logan continued. "Take your friends... and run. They'll keep coming and coming."

"No." Laura said again, before Logan gasped heavily, saying "listen. You don't have to fight anymore."

Laura reached for the bloody hand, which grasped hers tightly. "Go." Logan said again. "Go."

Logan looked at the young girl, his eyes slowly dialating as he inhaled, before softly saying "d... don't... don't be what they made you."

Laura continued crying as Logan gasped for breath. "Laura... Laura."

Laura didn't know what else to say. Just one word was what she needed. "Daddy..."

As she said this, she felt Logan's hand loosening around hers, as a small warm smile crossed Logan's lips. "So..."

Logan inhaled the deepest breath he could, before exhaling his last few words.

"So this is what it feels like..."

* * *

Laura looked at the pile of rocks she and the other children had buried Logan in, with a small pair of sticks fastened together in the shape of a crucifix.

As the other children stood silently, Laura began the eulogy. _**"A man has to be what he is, Joey. Can't break the mould."**_

Laura was reluctant about quoting the film she had watched with Charles. But continued nevertheless. This was the first actual funeral she had been to.

 ** _"There's no living with a killing. There's no going back."_**

As she spoke, she thought about Logan's last words. He may have been dead, but she had the slightest hope that he was finally at peace.

 ** _"Right or wrong, it's a brand. A brand sticks. There's no going back."_**

She thought about all of the people that had ventured and died for her. Gabriela. Charles. The Munsons. Caliban. And now Logan. She and her friends may have been the last mutants on Earth, but she had hope. She had to have it.

 ** _"Now you run on home to your mother, and tell her... tell her everything's all right."_**

Laura slowly looked up to the mountains in the distance. The last chance for them. For freedom. For hope. For survival.

 _ **"And there are no more guns in the valley."**_ Laura finished, before one of the other children said "come on. We gotta move."

As the kids picked up their backpacks and ran into the woods, Laura stayed behind them a bit. She continued looking at Logan's makeshift grave. She knelt down silently, taking the cross in her hands and picking it out of the ground.

She tilted it slightly, firmly planting the newly formed X-shape in the ground, before running away with the others to their escape.


	2. Three Years Later

**_Three Years Later..._**

 _"Laura." the familiar voice said, awakening Laura from her sleep. She turned slowly, as the figure said "y'alright?"_

 _"Yeah." she smiled as she knelt up in the bed. Logan chuckled, saying "nice dream?"_

 _"Not really." she answered. She threw her arms around Logan, who warmly returned the embrace. She said "Daddy. Can you stay?"_

 _"You know I can't, Laura." Logan answered solemnly. She sighed, as she said "I don't want this anymore. I want to be with you, Daddy."_

 _Logan pushed Laura back, saying "you can't, Laura. It's too late."_

 _Laura sat back in shock as a large, malicious grin crossed Logan's face. The familiar wrinkles and scars on his body and face retracted as his hair fell from his head, leaving the buzzcut of the grinning X-24._

 _"No. No..." Laura said in panic as X-24 cackled loudly. She scowled as she drew her claws, violently ramming them into X-24's chest with all her strength._

 _ **"RRRRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"**_

* * *

 ** _"NO!"_** Laura said as she snapped awake, panting heavily with her claws unsheathed. She retracted the blades on her arms, small drops of blood dribbling down her knuckles as she looked around.

Her outburst had resulted in minor damages to the bug-infested mattress she lay on. She looked at the rain falling in the forest outside her small cave, seeing the water leaking through the rock and onto the ground below her.

A song played through the tinny speakers of a small radio on the rock next to her. Laura looked to the device, as the sound slowly drowned in and out. As this happened, Laura stretched herself, sitting up in the bed and throwing off the covers. She knelt up and went to where the radio was.

She picked up the radio, checking the back to pull out the dead batteries. Laura sighed as she held the two small AAs in her fingers. After watching them in curiosity, she squezzed them both between her fingers, slowly crushing the casings as the acids spilled down her left arm.

She grit her teeth and grinned, shutting her eyes tight as the acid burned through her flesh. Laura exhaled heavily as her nose breathed in the smell of the substance. She sensed an awkward sort of pungent satisfaction from the smell.

Eventually, the feeling went away, as Laura continued looking at the flesh that was pulling itself back together over the hole in her arm. She went to the edge of the bed, grabbing a dirty, bloodstained tanktop and pulling it over her chest _._

She stood up and then grabbed a large knee length jacket and covered herself with it. Laura left the emptied wreck of rocks and stone formations, and headed out into the dark woods.

She walked down the waterlogged hill, past the dozens of trees she had left her mark on. After a few minutes of walking, she eventually arrived at her destination. Laura walked into the quiet, empty village.

It was early in the morning. She couldn't tell how early, but no one was up yet. The only thing that seemed to be open was the 24 hour convenience store that stood at the end of a small street of grocery outlets.

She opened the door to the small store, walking around to the fridge and food section. Grabbing two cans of Pringles and three Dr Peppers, she went to the electronics shelf, grabbing a pack of AA batteries.

As Laura looked down at the different brands, she saw two white eyes watching her from behind the aisle. They seemed almost inhuman in nature, like two white bulbs over a black background.

Laura blinked for a moment, but when she opened her eyes the person had disappeared. She quickly walked around the aisle, but no one stood there. She sighed, before going to the counter and paying for her items. She left the store, walking back to the outskirts of the village.

Laura groaned as she sat on a bench before the forest, popping open the back of the radio and replacing the batteries inside of it. She returned to the cave, pulling off her coat and tanktop as she lay back on the bug-infested matress and went back to sleep.


	3. Captured

That night, Laura sat in her den, silently thinking to herself. Her radio was switched off, and her eyes were slowly closing in and out. She slapped her forehead several times to keep awake, before suddenly...

 ** _SNAP!_** went a twig outside of the den. This was followed with a sharp _**SHING!**_ as Laura unsheathed her claws when she heard the noise, tensing tightly as she turned to the entrance of the den.

* * *

She sat waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Peace. Silence. _Nothing_. Laura sighed, and unsheathed the claws on her left hand. She groaned as she lay back against the mattress, looking at the two blades on her right hand.

It was just curiosity, wasn't it? Just childlike curiosity that brought her left hand to the blades. That scraped her nails against the trim sides of the blades. That brought her hand past the claws near her wrist.

 ** _SHLIKT!_** Laura shut her eyes and grit her teeth tight as she felt the blades slicing her flesh, the blood dribbling down her arm and onto the mattress. She lay back and exhaled heavily as she felt the mattress becoming wet beneath her. She could smell the blood that leaked from the already-healing wound, but after a while, it went away.

* * *

Laura's eyes suddenly shot open, pulling her back into the real world as she heard a voice. A radioed voice which said **_"target is located. Engage with extreme prejudice. Repeat, engage immediately."_**

She looked to the stone above her, hearing the footsteps from above it. **_SSSSSSSSSHHHHHIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGG_** was the sound her claws made as they slowly protrude from her knuckles, and then, it happened.

 ** _CRACK! SKINT!_**

"AARRGGHH!" the soldier shrieked as the claws shot out through the rock, impaling the soldier's foot as the blood burst from the wound. Laura pulled her claws from the rock, the blood dribbling onto her face from the hole she had made.

She rolled from the den, jumping up to the top of the rock as she pierced the man's chest, hoisting him into the air while she rapidly tore at his body with her claws. **_HACK! SLASH! SKINT! HACK! SLASH! SKINT!_** She finally drew to a halt, panting like a beast turned savage as the man's corpse lay inside-out on the rock at her feet.

 ** _"There she is! Open fire!"_** another soldier said, prompting Laura's face to shoot upwards as she saw the soldiers running from out behind the trees.

 _ **BRAT-AT-AT-AT-AT-AT-AT-AT-AT-AT!**_ went the bullets of the semi-automatics the soldiers fired. Laura ran through the woods towards them, her claws unsheathed as she let out a fierce growl.

 ** _"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"_**

Laura leaped off of a rock, drilling her claws deep into the neck of the screaming soldier she had tackled while doing so. The soldier remained alive, the last thing he saw being the sharp blade protrude from Laura's shoe and directly to his face.

Another soldier ran behind her fully armed, as Laura flipped herself in a 360 spin kick, slashing the man's throat with her foot claw. The man choked violently as blood ran from his mouth and neck. As Laura ran past the corpses, the hale of bullets continued raining upon her without end.

Laura quickly eluded the fire while she flipped from victim to victim, leaving each of the soldiers in a pile of bloody meat and bone. The soldiers that didn't run in fear continued firing. **_BANG! ZZZIP!_** Laura groaned as she fell back, a few bullets having penetrated her neck and jugular. She struggled to her feet, the bullets falling in the bloody puddles beneath her as her skin reformed itself around the injuries.

She looked up, seeing the large weapon the soldiers were assembling in the distance. Laura growled as she unsheathed her blades. **_"Here she comes! On the count of three!"_**

 **"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"** Laura roared as she sprinted towards them. **_"Now! Now! Do it now!"_** the main soldier said as the other soldiers retreated behind the large cubed weapon, before the soldier at command pulled the large switch on the sound.

 ** _WUB-WUB-WUB-WUB-WUB-WUB-WUB!_** was the loud noise that blasted Laura backwards, erupting her eardrums as the crimson ooze dribbled down her neck and out her nose. The Sonic Cannon continued firing the large soundwaves that pinned Laura on the ground and shook the trees bare behind her.

The remaining armed soldiers circled Laura, narrowly staying clear of the soundwave's range as they aimed the large stun blasters in their arms. Laura looked up to see them for a split-second, before they fired. _**ZAP! ZAP! Pssseewwwww...**_

* * *

 _ **Two days on your own, only one meal and hardly any sleep. She's eleven. I'm fucking ninety.**_

 _"Take your friends and run."_

 _ **This is what life looks like.**_

 _"They'll keep coming and coming."_

 _ **People who love each other. A home.**_

 _"Listen."_

 _ **You should take a moment.**_

 _"You don't have to fight anymore."_

 _ **Feel it.**_

 _"Go."_

 _ **You still have time.**_

 _"Don't be what they made you."_

 _ **What did you do?**_

 _"Laura..."_

 _ **Sunseeker...**_

 _"So this is what it feels like..."_

* * *

 ** _"Agh!"_** Laura shot awake, restrained tightly in the back of the large armored truck she had been chained into. She felt the gravel beneath the tires of the fast-moving vehicle. She sighed as she drooped her head down slightly.

Two soldiers were in the back with her, sitting silently with their rifles armed. She considered breaking free. Killing them. Escaping. But what was the point? Whoever they were working for would just send more soldiers. And more after those soldiers. And more after them.

Suddenly, the truck grinded to a halt. **_BANG! BANG! BANG!_** went the sound of a fist slamming against the loading door to the truck. The soldiers looked up, one of them saying **_"what the fuck's goin' on?"_**

 ** _"Must be another pickup."_** the second soldier said as he went to the door and unhinged it. He lifted the door up to see the person on the other side. "Holy shit!"

 ** _BANG! BANG! SKINT! HACK! SLASH!_** were the sounds Laura heard as the soldiers fell back in the truck dead. The woman entered the truck, running up to where Laura was. Laura looked up to the women. She seemed familiar, but Laura didn't know where she had seen this woman before.

She was a brunette, with a single white streak in her fringe. She wore a tight yellow leotard and boots with a green coat and pants, with long yellow gloves over her hands. She spoke to Laura, a strong Mississippi accent to her voice as she said "y'okay, honey?"

"Who are you?" Laura groaned as the woman unshackled her. "My name's Rogue. I'm here to get y'outta this shit-hole."

"AGH! Shit!" Rogue groaned as Laura suddenly lifted her legs up, drop-kicking her onto her back as she leaped over her. Rogue looked to the door, saying "wait! No! That's her! Don't let her get away!"

Laura ignored what Rogue said as she leaped out of the door. Suddenly, she felt her foot being grabbed as she fell back.

"Not so fast, kid!" a voice said as two large arms wrapped around Laura, hoisting her back as she struggled to escape. She turned herself around, violently jabbing her claws into the chest, the blood blending against the red costume of the masked figure.

"OW! Fuck you, you little brat!" the masked man said, before Laura unsheathed her foot claw, slamming it straight down onto the man's foot.

 ** _"AUDI, FIVE-THOUSAND!"_** the man wailed as Laura headbutted him back. As the man lay on the floor clutching his foot, Laura turned to see Rogue kneeling at her level, quickly placing her ungloved hands to Laura's forehead. Laura wheezed heavily for breath as she felt her rage and strength fading from her.

"That's it, honey. You just go right to sleep." Rogue said softly as Laura fell back unconscious. The masked mutant stood up as Rogue put her glove back on, as he said "and you couldn't have done that while she was chained up for _what_ reason, exactly?"

"Fuck off, Wade. Let's get her to the others." Rogue said as Wade carried Laura in his arms and they went into the forest.


	4. Base

_**Two days on your own, only one meal and hardly any sleep. She's eleven. I'm fucking ninety.**_

 _"Take your friends and run."_

 _ **This is what life looks like.**_

 _"They'll keep coming and coming."_

 _ **People who love each other. A home.**_

 _"Listen."_

 _ **You should take a moment.**_

 _"You don't have to fight anymore."_

 _ **Feel it.**_

 _"Go."_

 _ **You still have time.**_

 _"Don't be what they made you."_

 _ **What did you do?**_

 _"Laura..."_

 _ **Sunseeker...**_

 _"So this is what it feels like..."_

* * *

Laura's eyes opened slowly, seeing the dark room she was in. She was sitting in a bed. It was soft and small, but there were no bugs inside of this matress. Laura shot up quickly and tried to climb out.

 _ **CLINK! DINK! CLINK!**_ Laura turned to see the Adamantium chain that looped around her arm and attached her to the wall. She turned to the door to hear the voices just outside of it. She recognized Rogue's voice, but was unfamiliar with the male and female voices that spoke to her.

 _"Y'think she'll work with us?"_ Rogue's voice said, before the female voice answered _"I hope. But it's been three years since anyone saw her, who knows what shit she's seen."_

 _"We need her. She's the best one for the job."_ the male voice said. _"She's chained up, right?"_

 _"Yeah."_ Rogue said. _"I'll talk to her. If she gets crazy again, I'll just do m'usual magic."_

Laura sat up, tugging angrily at the chain as Rogue opened the door. "Sorry. honey." she said gently as she sat on the bed. "Adamantium don't work like that, do it?"

"Where am I?" Laura snapped. Rogue said "it's okay. You're in a mutant refugee camp."

Laura looked to her backpack that was sitting emptied next to the bed. Rogue said "so. We were looking through your bag while you were sleeping. I hear you're a real X-Men fan."

"Yeah. What's it to you?" Laura said as she watched Rogue looking through the comics Laura had. Rogue scoffed theatrically, sarcastically pretending to be shocked, saying "oh, I'm insulted. I thought you'd be asking for an autograph."

Laura looked at the page Rogue had opened, seeing the image of a masked Logan holding a young woman with a bright white streak in her brunette hair. Laura's eyes widened, as she said "wait... you're Rogue?! _The_ Rogue?!"

"The one and only, honey." Rogue said. Laura giddily sat back, thinking for a moment about what to say. Suddenly, she broke out with "did he ever wear that?"

Rogue looked to the page, seeing the bright yellow costume Logan was wearing in the picture. She chuckled, saying "well, sometimes. But he used to hate the mask, though. He said it made him look like a self-representing asshole."

Laura stifled, saying "but he wore the leotard, right?"

"That's enough. Both of you." another voice said. Laura looked to the door, seeing the yellow-eyed figure in the doorway. She stepped into the light, revealing the blue scales and red hair as she went to them both.

"Hope you enjoyed your sleep, kid. What you're about to see, you'll probably need it." the mutant said, as Rogue flicked through the comics, saying "hey Raven, have you seen these? Pretty awesome, right?"

Rogue passed Raven the comics, the latter bluntly placing them on the table behind her as she said "we don't have time for that shit, Rogue. Come on, we got work to do."

Laura looked to the doorway, seeing the large red eye on the scarred, hulking figure that stood there, before Raven aggressively gripped her wrist. Laura tensed as she turned to Raven, who pulled a key out.

"Okay, here's the deal, Kinney. If I take these shackles off your arm, can you promise that you're not gonna try and cut my arm off?" Raven said bluntly with one eyebrow raised.

Laura nodded silently, as Raven said "good. You're a little more compliant than your father was at least."

* * *

Rogue and Raven took Laura into the large dark room, Raven pulling Laura by the hand. As they walked, Laura rapidly asked her questions.

 _"What's your power? Why are you blue? When did you join the X-Men? I never saw you in my comics. Did you leave the team? When did you leave? Did you not like anyone? Were they scared of you? Were you scared of them? Did you ever meet Colossus?"_

"Will you just shut the fuck up?!" Raven snapped, silencing Laura instantly. Rogue grinned as they sat Laura down at the circular table. The large one-eyed figure stepped into the room, sitting at the other end of the table. He said "hello, Laura."

"Who are you?" Laura asked. The white-haired man said "I'm Nathan Summers. But you can call me Cable. I'm in charge here. I take it you've already met Rogue, Mystique and Deadpool."

"Yeah. I think so." Laura said, looking at the red costume of the mutant she had attacked.

"No hard feelings, Logan 2.0." Deadpool snarked. Cable continued, saying "I'm guessing you'd like to know why we brought you here."

"It'd be nice to. For once." Laura said, thinking back to her time in the Transigen labs. Raven suddenly said "well, I'm gonna cut the shit. Three years ago, some good friends of ours sacrificed themselves so that you could be here today."

Laura sat as she sat back, thinking about Charles, Logan and Caliban. Raven continued "we need your help."

"You need _me_?" Laura said in confusion, as Rogue nodded, saying "yeah, honey. Y'see, turns out you n'your friends were being experimented on by a couple o'dickheads we've been having trouble with for quite some time."

"How much time?" Laura asked.

"Well... does forty years sound reasonable enough?" Raven snarked. Rogue said "kid, I know you're new to this, but we all were too. Me, Wade, Remy."

"Remy? Who's..."

"You'll see him later. But anyway." Rogue continued. "What we're doin' could be the key to saving our whole species from extinction. And gettin' payback on those dickheads."

"You mean Transigen? Pierce? Rice? They're already dead." Laura said. Cable stood up, saying "we know, Laura. But Rice was just the King's Knight."

"What?" Laura said, not understanding the metaphor.

"X-Master didn't teach you chess, huh kid?" Wade said, as Laura shook her head.

Raven smirked, saying "hm, surprising. We'll have to have a game sometime. But anyway, what Cable means is that Zander Rice wasn't the main mastermind behind this whole cataclysm."

"But I thought... his machines? The fucked-up food... that's what wiped out the mutants, right." Laura said. Rogue pulled a file from the table, taking out a sheet as she laid it on the table in front of Laura.

"Zander Rice dedicated his life to wiping out the mutant gene. He spent years trying to cure it, in his own words. In 2004, the head of our dickhead corporation offered him a chance to progressively kill it without any civilian casualties."

"Who was this?" Laura said, before she looked at the sheet. The image showed Rice designing and building the corn-tainting machines that Transigen would one day install in the fields near the Munson home. She looked closely at the side of it, where a small symbol appeared.

Above it was the Alkali-Transigen logo she had previously seen in all of the labs she was kept in, but this other logo was unfamiliar to her. It was plain silver with a bold Aharoni font.

 ** _PROPERTY OF ESSEX CORP._**


	5. X-Position - Mission

"It all started a long time ago, in Auschwitz." Cable said. Deadpool suddenly added "oh great. Flashback time."

* * *

 _ **1944: Auchwitz, Poland**_

 _ **"Eins."** Shaw started as Erik reached for the coin._

 _The boy struggled to move the small metal circle, as Shaw watched unamused, slowly aiming his gun at the boy's mother._

 _ **"Zwei."** Shaw continued counting as Erik continued to struggle._

 _ **"Alles ist gut."** Erik's mother said to her son. **"Alles ist gut."**_

 _ **"Drei."** Shaw said as he fired. Erik looked up from the coin as his mother fell dead. He stared at Shaw, a deathly gaze in his eyes as the bell on the desk began to crumple violently. Shaw turned in shock to the bell, happily saying **"**_ ** _Ja! Wunderbar!"_**

 _ **"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"** Erik roared as he turned to the metal cabinet, crushing it effortlessly as the files and book were disintegrated within it. **"V**_ _ **orzüglich!"** Shaw exclaimed._

 _Erik suddenly turned to the soldiers behind him, reaching for them as their helmets compacted in on themselves. The soldiers cried out in pain as the helmets crushed their heads, falling to the floor as Erik turned to the laboratory, causing the entire room to fall apart and fly around._

* * *

"That was when Shaw contacted the founder of Essex Corp, a man called Nathaniel Essex." Cable explained.

Raven then added "one in a long family line of scientists minds, Essex believed that humanity was undergoing increasing mutation, though he referred to it as the _Essex Factor_ back then."

"He dreamed of bringing the perfection of the evolution of the human race to the masses." Cable said. "But Essex's theories were mocked relentlessly, until a revelation was made during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962."

* * *

 ** _1969: Trask Industries_**

 _"Bolivar, we need to talk." Nathaniel said as he entered the room. Trask said "Mr Essex. It's an honor. Have you come to ask about the program?"_

 _"Yes. The sentinels. I need the tracking devices."_

 _"They're undergoing reconditioning in the beta processes." Trask explained. Essex scoffed, saying "I didn't give you those millions of dollars to waste my time. I need the advanced class mutant detection systems. NOW!"_

* * *

"After the Sentinel program was shut down in '73, Essex's representatives took what they could." Cable said. "He had Trask removed from custody to complete the gene detection devices."

* * *

 ** _1979: Essex Labs_**

 _"I cannot thank you enough, dear Bolivar." Essex said as the completed devices were unveiled. As his men picked up the devices and packed them away, Essex turned to one of his bodyguards, the guard nodding as he pulled out his gun. Trask turned and gasped as he faced the nozzle of the gun._

 ** _BANG!_**

* * *

"When Trask was taken out of the picture, Essex funded William Stryker's Weapon X program." Raven said.

Laura listened as Raven added "Logan and I tried to stop them. But they took him away. That turned out less-than-successful for them, though."

* * *

 _ **1983: Weapon X Base, Alkali Lake**_

 _The cleaning staff vacuumed the countless bullets that had been fired during Weapon X's rampage, while others removed the corpses of the guards that had been victimized in the slaughter._

 _Three men in suits walked past the death and decay, going to the experimentation room. They went to the container on the wall, next to which hung an X-ray simulation of Weapon X. The leading man opened the container, pulling out the vials of blood and DNA that were marked **WEAPON X**._

 _The other two men opened a briefcase as the leading man gently placed the many vials in the case, closing the cover and shutting the lid marked **ESSEX CORP**._

* * *

"Essex got all the DNA he could to research himself." Cable explained. "He then went to work kidnapping mutants to experiment on them."

"That's where we crossed paths with Mr Sinister for the first time." Raven added. Laura was taken aback by this, saying "Mr Sinister?"

"Yeah, kid. That's what they used to call him." Rogue explained. "His mooks covered up all the shit he was doing, but the mutant population weren't so easy to convince. Then he had to go and capture Jean Grey."

* * *

 _ **1993: Essex Labs**_

 _Beast, Cyclops and Nightcrawler crept through the labs. Cyclops said to his radio "Mystique, it's Scott. We can't find Jean's cell yet."_

 _"That means the Phoenix isn't unleashed yet. Good." Mystique said through the radio. "Find her and get her out."_

 _"Over here!" Kurt said as he pointed to the glass window. Beast and Cyclops crept over to the window, seeing Jean strapped to a table. The scientists attached large pliers to the headset on her forehead, connecting them to the high-voltage machine._

 _"Oh shit!" Beast said as the scientist turned on the machine, Jean screaming as the crimson energy began slowly radiating off of her._

 _"She's active! Everybody get back!" the scientist said as the workers ran to the door, where Nightcrawler, Cyclops and Beast took cover._

 _Jean shrieked as the energy pulsed massively, disintegrating the scientists as Cyclops said down the radio "Mystique! We got a problem!"_

* * *

"After that, Essex disappeared." Raven said. "Until 2004, when he contacted Zander Rice."

"The Essex Corp had connections to the Rice family as Zander's father was a leading scientist for the Weapon X program." Cable explained.

"Oh goody, it's my part in this shitfest." Deadpool said, as Cable groaned. "Yes, it is. You see Laura, Essex recruited some of Transigen's workers to begin working on unearthing mutants."

"Unearthing?" Laura said, as Cable said "yes. They were trying to find the dormant X-Gene in adults who had never experienced the growth of mutation in childhood. Wade was one of those experiments."

* * *

 _ **2016: Weapon X "Mutant Factory"**_

 _"You don't wanna kill me! I'm the only one who can fix your ugly mug!" Francis said as he threw Wade across the burning lab. Wade landed on the ground, struggling to get up before Francis rammed a large steel pipe into his back._

 _Wade choked up blood as the pipe went straight through the floor. Francis knelt down beside him, saying "what's my name?"_

 _Wade didn't answer, as Francis left the cindering room. As Wade watched him leave, he heard a voice weakly speaking to him. "Wade..."_

 _He turned to see Worm lying in the bed, unable to escape. Wade sighed in shame as he looked down, and the laboratory collapsed around him._

* * *

"So with fuck-face still on the loose and my face still looking like a dog's ass with herpes, I went after the son of a bitch!" Wade said.

"Wade spent a year going after the man who did that to him." Cable said. Laura said "did what?"

"Does this look like much?" Wade said as he lifted his mask. Laura didn't react to the scarred face she saw underneath. It didn't look that bad, at least not to her. She herself had done much worse to the Reavers.

"By the time Wade had hunted down the mutant factory workers, they'd already compiled enough mutant data to give to Essex."

"For what?"

"So he could build his own mutants." Raven said. "He'd been extracting the DNA of the mutants he'd captured ever since '83. That's where you came from."

"Is that why you brought me, then?" Laura asked. Cable nodded, saying "Unfortunately, even with Rice and Pierce dead, Essex is still up to his usual tricks."

"We've got a mission for you." Raven said as she showed a hologram. Laura looked at the hologram, seeing the image of a large tropical island. "This is Genosha. Essex Corp's Main Headquarters. We need to get what's in there."

"What is in there?" Laura asked, as Rogue said "that's why we need you, honey. We gotta find out what Sinister's up to. And get out alive."

"Last I checked, it's what I'm good at." Laura said. Raven then said "so, we got a deal?"

Laura stood up, calmly nodding as she said "alright. You can count me in."


	6. Suit-Up - Opening

Laura sat on the bed, looking at her comic books that Rogue had left on the bedside.

 ** _You read these in your spare time?_**

She saw the page where Logan saved Rogue from falling off of a cliff. She smirked as she saw the words _EDEN OR THE END_ in large letters.

 ** _Well, look at this, Charles. We got ourselves an X-Men fan._**

Laura then sighed as she closed the book and put it back down. She then looked to the bedside, seeing a small silver remote control.

 ** _These are all bullshit, okay?_**

She hadn't seen that remote when she had first woke up. Maybe Rogue had put it there while they were talking to Cable.

 ** _Maybe a quarter of it happened, and not like this._**

Laura held the small remote. There was only one button on it, a circular control with a large X on the front.

 ** _In the real world, people die._**

Laura looked around the room. It was empty, so she reached out to touch the button, and then suddenly... _FLASH!_ the wall at the end of the room retracted up into the ceiling, revealing a large blue and chrome metal doorway.

 ** _And no self-representing asshole in a fucking leotard can fix that!_**

Laura put the remote back on the bedside, walking over to the doorway. A small, hand-sized platform stood in the middle of the door, also marked with an X. Laura looked back to the room behind her, before pressing the button and opening the door.

 ** _That nurse was feeding you some Grade-_** ** _A bullshit!_**

The door led into a similarly-colored hallway. It appeared to be some sort of weapons bay, with a large assortment of guns, blasters and grenades. Laura curiously walked through the hallway, eventually arriving at another wall.

She pressed the button, once again causing the wall to retract into the ceiling. It unveiled some sort of wardrobe, filled with multi-colored flight suits. She marveled at the suits, each of which had a unique design and color-scheme. Laura recognized the costumes of Cyclops and Storm, the latter's having the distinct cape attached to the sleeves.

She then came to the black and gold costume, with the pointy-eared helmet. Laura recognized it from the comic, seeing the three silver sheaths on each glove. She then looked to the wall, seeing a screen that had the words **_NEW PROJECT_** written on it.

She pressed the screen, opening another wall which had a large scanning device inside of it. The screen said **_BODY SCAN NOW ONLINE_** as the chamber opened. Laura stepped to the door of the chamber, sniffing the inside before walking in.

Laura tensed slightly as the robotic appendages in the machine grabbed her arms, restraining her as the scanner's lowered down the side. **_SCANNING COMPLETE_** the computer said as the appendages released Laura.

* * *

Rogue sat talking to Raven and Cable about Laura. "Shouldn't we tell her? It's better she know." Rogue said, before Raven answered "no. Don't. She won't do it otherwise."

"Mystique may have a point. How soon can you leave?" Cable asked. Rogue said "Remy got the jet up and running and Wade's putting the other recruits together. We can leave at noon."

"Shit." Cable said as he looked at the small computer screen on his arm, which read _**ARMORY NOW IN PROGRESS**_. "I thought I told you to keep her away from the machinery!"

* * *

Laura stepped out of the scanner, seeing the screen say _**DESIGN SEQUENCE INITIATED**_. Two buttons appeared on the screen, one saying _**NEW DESIGN**_ and the other saying _**EXISTING DESIGN**_. Laura tapped the second button, showing a hologram of all the other existing designs.

She tapped the slider with her finger, moving it past the Cyclops, Storm and Nightcrawler models, before seeing the yellow costume with the pointed mask. She pressed the hologram, as the screen said **_DESIGN SELECTED_**.

* * *

Cable and Rogue ran into the room, Cable saying "God, I hope she's not ripped that apart too!" before Rogue said "hey look. It's opening. Is that her?"

To their surprise, a small figure resembling Laura stepped out. She wore a tight yellow and black armor, with pointed black shoulder pads and thigh-high boots. Her long hair still hung over her shoulders beneath the mask that covered her eyes.

"Wow, you really were a Wolverine fan, huh?" Rogue said, grinning at the costume. Laura blushed, pulling off the mask and leaving it on the table, saying "sorry, I was just trying it out. I'll put it back now."

"No. Come on, don't do that." Rogue said enthusiastically. She picked up the mask, giving it back to Laura and saying "you should wear it on the mission. It suits you down to the ground alright. Don't it, Cable?"

"Yes. It's very battle-ready. Luckily, the colors are perfect for keeping a low profile." Cable said. He went to another screen, saying "Laura. When they're ready, Rogue will take you to the landing deck to meet the crew you're gonna be working with. But in the meantime..."

He suddenly pressed the button on the screen, opening the wall behind the beds, revealing a large garrison of blasters, guns and blades. Laura's eyes widened in awe as she saw the tech, as Cable said to her "that suit's looking a little low on weapons."


	7. Team - Take-Off

A few hours later, Rogue and Laura entered the landing deck, as Laura looked up to the large black jet that was parked at the end of the deck. At the foot of the jet, she saw Deadpool, eating a chimichanga with some two other costumed mutants.

One of the mutants wore a long black coat over a pink shirt, with a red headband lifting up his auburn hair. He twiddled a toothpick in his mouth, as he turned and saw the two walking in. He tapped Deadpool's shoulder, prompting him to look up.

"Hello there, darlin'." the man said to Laura, who pulled her claws out as he stepped forward, quickly taking a few steps back as he saw them. "Whoa whoa whoa now, child. Take it easy. Just sayin' hi."

Laura sniffed the man while keeping her distance, as Rogue said "Laura. Laura. Easy, honey. This here's Remy. He's with us."

"Oh, hello, by the way." Remy said as he blew Rogue a kiss. Rogue clinched her hand to catch it as Deadpool turned to Laura and said "air mail. Standard shit."

Laura then turned to the dark haired woman in the tight purple bodysuit. Like Rogue, she had a streak running through her pitch-black hair, though it was bright pink rather than white. She held a samurai sword in her hand, and said "so, you're Wolverine Jr, huh?"

Laura nodded, as Gambit tapped the woman's shoulder, saying "uh, B. I thought we agreed... Ixnay on ogan-lay."

"Right. Sorry. I'm Betty by the way, but you can call me Psylocke." the woman said, before putting her fist up to Laura. "So, little spike hands. You ready to make the world a better place?"

Laura looked at her hand for a minute, before bumping it with her own fist. Rogue said "alright, kid. You ready to go?"

* * *

"So Wade, who's this new driver you were talking 'bout?" Gambit asked as they entered the jet, before Deadpool answered "an old friend of mine. He comes pretty cheap."

"What's his price?"

"Crisp high-five each. Hey, there's my main man!" Deadpool said as he saw the Indian man sitting at the seat. He said "DP. Is everything okay?"

"It's fucking great, Captain Dopinder." Deadpool said as he sat in the co-pilot's seat. The others sat in the passenger seats, Rogue suddenly grabbing Laura's seatbelt and quickly fastening it to her. Laura looked up to her curiously, as Rogue grinned, saying "you'll thank me later, honey."

Deadpool pulled down the microphone, saying **_"attention. This is your co-pilot speaking since he can't do anything else in this fucking situation. The journey will be an estimated six hours to Genosha, so we have board games on the top shelf there and a selection of in-flight movies on the bottom one."_**

Gambit opened the bottom shelf, pulling aside the sticky pages of a Playboy Magazine to see the DVDs on the shelf. He looked at them, all of them featuring imagery of scantily clad, or nude, women on the front. Gambit turned to his left, seeing Laura staring at the covers curiously.

Gambit put his hands on her eyes and put the DVDs back in the shelf, saying "sorry honey. You're a little too young for that shit."

"Wade, for fuck's sake, I thought we told you to clean that fucking shelf out!" Psylocke said. Laura said "it's okay. I don't wanna watch anything."

"That's a shame, kid. You're missing out here." Wade said as he took one of the DVDs and brought it to the seat, saying "don't worry. I got headphones. And lotion."

"Aarrgghh! That's fucking disgusting, man!" Psylocke groaned, before Wade said "I'm here to help you save the world and stop myself having to jack off in the seat, or would you prefer to be in the co-pilot's seat while I sat next to the kid?"

"Fine. Fuck you too, Wade." Psylocke snapped. Rogue said "guys. Come on. Yo, Dopinder. You ready to go."

"Yes, Miss Rogue." Dopinder said, before saying **_"take off commencing in 50 seconds. Marker."_**

"Don't fuck up the turbulence like last time, dude." Wade said as he put his headphones in and pulled down his zipper. "Don't wanna make a mess and traumatize the little one over there."

"It's scary enough that y'look like a fucking sun-dried orange, bro." Gambit snarked as Dopinder pulled the gears upwards, lifting the jet into the sky.

* * *

Cable and Mystique looked where the jet went, as Raven said "you think she'll be okay?"

Cable sighed, saying "we can only hope."


	8. The Only Way Is Essex

_**Essex Experimentation Laboratories, Genosha**_

A blonde woman walked to the window of her office. She wore a tight purple bodysuit with a low neck, with thigh-high boots and shoulder-high gloves. She saw a large ship heading toward the island, before the door opened and a grey-skinned creature in a red suit stepped in.

"Miss Wyngarde." the thick-accented creature said, moving his long blonde hair out of his eyes as he entered. "The ship has arrived."

"Yes. Thank you, Rossovich." Miss Wyngarde said as she went to the harbor with the grey skinned mutant following behind her.

They waited at the harbor as the ship docked at port, the door opening to reveal their superior. He wore a long black cape over his dark purple body armor, while his pale white face and red eyes were exposed. His pitch black hair and beard blended with the coloring of his cape, which flew behind him as he entered, surrounded by his armed bodyguards.

"Ah, Mr Essex.." Wyngarde said. "I am honored by your visit."

Essex scoffed, ignoring Wyngarde as he said "my visit here is hardly an honor, Regan. I would have thought you'd already read my mind to know that by this point."

"My apologies, sir. I admit, I was surprised to learn you were coming."

"I too was surprised, Regan. By what you have allowed to happen on Genosha." Essex snapped. "I have found reason to believe that Rice's little mistake has joined the remaining X-Men."

"X-23? Impossible. How did they find her?" Wyngarde said, though Essex ignored her as he continued.

"In my absence, you and Rossovich had a single objective. To finish the experiments and neutralize the escapees. By my knowledge, neither of those things have happened."

"Master." Rossovich said. "We have neutralized all resources to find insurgents. We kill them, more of them emerge."

"Oh good. For a moment then, I thought I gave you those tentacles just so you could sit back idly. Thank you, Omega Red." Essex said sarcastically, before turning back to Wyngarde. "Now Regan, or should I call you, Lady Mastermind... who did you place in charge of order enforcements?"

* * *

"Agents Brent Jackson and Carol Hines, reporting sir." Wyngarde said as the two agents entered. She stood next to Rossovich, who flexed the tentacles on his arms.

"My friends, please. Do sit." Essex said, pointing to the two seats that sat before his desk. Hines and Jackson nervously sat on the seats, before Essex said "I understand you have experience dealing with the mutant freedom fighters stationed on this island."

"Yes, sir. That is correct." Hines said proudly, before Essex added "and your efforts have been unsuccessful as of late."

Jackson then said "well, I wouldn't say th..."

"Agent Jackson, if you had succeeded in your efforts, I would have no need to bring you to my office for this little chat." Essex said bluntly, before adding "now, when was the last activity of these mutants reported?"

"Well, sir. We personally responded to an attack last night at the harbor." Hines said, nervously clasping her hands together. Essex grinned as he tapped the table with the pencil he held, saying "I see. And the details of this attack?"

"Nothing of note, sir." Hines responded. "The mutants simply dismantled some of our jets and escaped with a few of our experimentation files. No casualties."

"Ah yes, but there is something of note there, isn't there, Agent Hines?" Essex said as he stood up.

"Sir, the files stolen were..."

"No, not the files. The lack of casualties." Essex said. "This cell you're dealing with is filled with some of the most dangerous mutants in the world. All of whom wish to destroy this company. Why would they show principal and mercy to the bane of mutantkind's existence?"

Jackson and Hines listened in confusion, as Essex continued "we have reason to believe that these mutants are being led by a former student of Charles Xavier. An X-Man."

"Sir, the X-Men were wiped out four years ago." Jackson said, before Essex scoffed "I'd thought myself, but apparently not. There are not many individuals who can _walk through walls_ to steal classified files, are there?"

As Essex spoke, Rossovich walked to the door, closing the black blinds on the windows as he stood behind the two agents. Essex looked up to him briefly, before continuing his speech.

"For almost fifty years, the X-Men tried to put a stop to the progress that both my father and I have made in that time."

Wyngarde's eyes widened as she saw Rossovich's tentacles elongating from his hands, lifting up and resting on the shoulders of Jackson and Hines. "Sir?..."

Essex nodded at Rossovich quickly, before saying to the two agents "now your failure to neutralize this threat has made time an ally to them."

He turned around to face Wyngarde, a stern look on his face as he said "and that is something I simply cannot have."

The two agents turned to see Rossovich's metallic tentacles on each of their shoulders, shrieking with terror as the metal arms wrapped around their neck's like snakes, gripping them tighter with vice-like strength.

CRACK! was the sound of crunching bone as Hines and Jackson fell limp, their necks being twisted to turn their heads a full circle. Rossovich grinned, proud of the work he had done, while Wyngarde gagged and held her mouth.

"Make no mistake." Essex said callously as the corpses fell at his feet while Wyngarde looked on in shock. "From this point onward, failure will not be tolerated. Regan."

"Yes, sir." Wyngarde said, regaining her composure, before Essex continued "you will dispatch our advanced class to the mutant's activities. We will discover the whereabouts of these mutants, and make examples of all of them!"


	9. Jet Talk - Communication

After a few hours of flying, Rogue yawned as she woke up on the jet. She looked out the window, seeing the light violet clouds in the night sky outside. Rogue turned to the cockpit, calling to Wade "hey scrotum-head. How far out are we?"

"About thirty minutes. Oh, and by the way, up your's you, you country skank." Wade called back as Dopinder kept at the wheel. "You were cooler in the 90's, anyway."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, sugar." Rogue said, grinning as she looked elsewhere in the passenger bay. She saw Psylocke laying back asleep, listening to a Shakira album on her IPhone. Gambit sat across from her, twiddling a card with his hand.

He said quietly to Rogue "y'okay, honey?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, just... well, you know, some day, huh?"

"Right, yeah." Remy scoffed. After a few moments, he said "well, be looking forward to when we got that pale piece o'shit in a cage, huh?"

"Whattayamean?" Rogue asked.

"You know, Sinister. Finally gonna put 'im away for all that shit he's done."

"I ain't putting him away, Remy." Rogue said sternly. "Imma kill that sum bitch."

"That ain't what Cable wants though..." Remy said, grinning as he tried to provoke a response from his girlfriend.

"Fuck what that metal-armed prick wants, G. Sinister belongs six feet under the fucking ground, we all know that."

"Well, if that's what you want, I ain't gon' stop you." Gambit said as he sat back. Rogue then said "only thing is now... what d'we do after?"

"After what?"

"After we rip that little shit up, what do we do then? Just reopen Xavier's or some shit like that?"

"We could, if you want to." Deadpool called from the cockpit. "I'd happily be a sex-ed teacher."

"Very funny." Rogue scoffed, before looking out the window. She said "Professor always said he wanted Storm to take his place when he was gone. Not even that can happen now."

"Well then, who do you want in charge?" Deadpool asked. "If there's an offer, I'll put my name in the hat."

"Y'know, Rogue. I always thought you'd be in charge." Gambit said, before turning to Laura, who was fast asleep with her head resting on Rogue's lap. "Course, looks like y'got yourself a lil' sister to take care of now, though."

"Mr DP." Dopinder said, before looking to the screen. "Is the screen supposed to be all beeping like that?"

"What do you mean?" Deadpool said, before seeing the small beeping signal on the screen.

* * *

The jet landed on the rocky hillside of the island. Deadpool turned and pulled down his microphone, saying "we have now reached Genosha."

Laura yawned as she woke up and unbuckled her seatbelt, picking up her helmet as Psylocke pressed the screen to the side of the cabin, opening a drawer filled with rifles and blasters.

She chuckled, saying to Rogue "I've been waiting years for this." as she cocked a rifle into place.

"I know how you's feeling, Betsy." Gambit said back as he pulled on his leather jacket and grabbed his staff, swishing it in his hand. He said "time for that sum-bitch to pay for all his bullshit."

"Say, are we talking about Mr Sinister or Simon Kinberg here?" Deadpool said.

Rogue suddenly turned, seeing Laura pulling the hatch on the door. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Laura!"

Laura turned as Rogue grabbed her, hoisting her back as she lifted the latch back up. Laura looked to Rogue in confusion, the latter sighing as she bent down to her level, saying "we can't get out yet, sugar. We don't know what's out there right now. Here, you put on your lil' mask, honey."

"Wade, how far are we from the base?" Psylocke asked, as Deadpool answered "it's at the bottom of the mountain. Our scanners are showing fuck-all when it comes to where that signal came from, though."

"What signal?" Laura asked, as Gambit said "while you was sleeping, we got a contact from the mutant rebels. They want us to meet up with 'em."

Rogue then looked out the goggles to the back of the jet, saying "alright. Coast is clear. Laura, remember honey. You stay close to me. This could get deadly."

"I can take care of myself, Rogue." Laura said proudly, before Wade said "that's what we're afraid of. Hey, Dopinder, you can watch the jet, right?"

"Yes, Mr Pool. You can count on me." Dopinder answered as he opened the cargo door. Laura took Rogue's hand as they walked out together, Gambit saying to Deadpool and Psylocke "remember what Mystique said. Keep an eye on the half-pint."

* * *

 _ **Essex Headquarters, Prisoners' Block**_

"RRRRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Bobby yelled out as he flashed awake, his fists casting a freezing blue hue over the seat he was strapped to. His eyes widened as he came face-to-face with Lady Mastermind, who chuckled as she said "comfortable, dear?"

"Not really." Bobby groaned in exhaustion, before Mastermind said "good. It's a tremendous honor, Mr Drake. I had no idea we were holding the famous Iceman. Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

"Speak for yourself. Xavier trusted you, Regan!" Bobby scoffed, before Regan said "you sent that message out from our post. We'd like to know where you sent it."

"Then you can all go fuck yourselves."

Regan chuckled, before getting back on her feet and walking around the chair. "Rossovich hasn't gotten anything out of you yet. It appears Mystique taught you well."

"She made us fighters." Bobby said back. "I'm not telling you shit."

Regan then grinned as her eyes turned a pale, milky blue, her irises vanishing as she said, in a heavily amplified voice, **_"you say that as if you have the choice to."_**

"Regan, please..." Bobby said as she reached her hand out, placing it on his head as Regan pushed it down with noticeable force. Bobby struggled to breathe as he was forced back against the chair, Regan saying **_"I'm getting the information Essex needs, whether you survive or not."_**

"R... R... Re... Reg... Regan... f... f-f-fu... fuck..." Bobby groaned as his nose and mouth began gushing blood onto the ground. **_"F... F... FUCK YOU!"_**

* * *

Rossovich waited outside the interrogation room, suddenly turning as the door opened and Lady Mastermind stepped out. She grinned at the corpse laying in the chair behind her, saying "tell the janitors to be careful. It'll be quite chilly in there."

She and Rossovich went to Essex's office, where he said "ah, Regan, dear. Did Jack Frost spill the information once you nipped at his nose?"

"Well. You could say that." Regan grinned. "His allies are waiting on the outskirts. They sent the message to Mystique's mutants in America. X-23 is with them."

"Good." Essex said as he looked to the window, where he saw the engineers building the large contraptions in the bay. "I think it's time we tried a test run of our technical weaponry. Dispatch the Sentinels as soon as possible. In the meantime, Mr Rossovich, why don't you go send our new friends a welcoming committee?"

"With pleasure, comrade." Rossovich said as he left the room to assemble his ground troops.


	10. Rescue

The group trekked through the woods, Laura sniffing each tree as she passed it suspiciously. Psylocke saw this, whispering to Rogue "never saw Logan get so up close and personal like that. What's her problem?"

Rogue slapped Psylocke's stomach, saying "don't call it a problem. If anything, she'll probably know danger before any of us do."

Deadpool watched as Laura continued sniffing, before she turned around and started sniffing the ground. He said "what is it, Lassie? Trouble at the old mill?"

"She's not a dog, Wade. Don't treat her like it." Gambit said as he sat back, twiddling his staff. Rogue then looked with concern as Laura continued sniffing ahead, saying "Laura. Honey, is there a problem?"

Laura looked up to the path ahead, her pupils dialating to their fullest potential. Rogue reached out to hold Laura before, **_Whooossh!_** Laura ran off at a high speed into the wood.

"Holy fuck! Laura!" Rogue called as she tried to catch up, Psylocke, Gambit and Deadpool following. Gambit groaned as they ran, saying to Wade "see, this is what you get when you treat a kid like a pet!"

"You think this is my fault?!" Wade said. "If anything, it's the fucking soccer mom over here for talking about the kid having problems!"

"Fuck you, Wade!" Psylocke said as their continued their futile effort to keep up with Laura, who grabbed a branch and hoisted herself into the trees, vanishing among the branches and leaves.

Rogue stomped on the ground in frustration. _**"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"**_ she said rapidly, before hitting a tree next to her, splintering the bark to pieces. Psylocke's eyes widened at this, before saying "come on! We gotta find her before she finds Sinister!"

 ** _SNAP!_** went a twig from a nearby bush, prompting the group to tense as they faced it. Gambit pulled out his staff as Psylocke and Deadpool pulled out their swords. Rogue placed her hand in the air to hold the attack, slowly heading to the bush to investigate.

"Laura? Is that you, sugar?" she asked, her eyes widening as the shadow revealed itself to them.

* * *

Laura ran through the forest as fast as she could, following the scent into the bushes as she sniffed the air ravenously. She inhaled the smell heavily. It seemed new, but somewhat familiar when she sniffed, continuing to climb through the woods and running into a glade.

She lifted her nose up into the sky, continuing to sniff the scent as it became stronger. "Logan?" she said to herself, before shaking her head. There was some resemblance to her father, but there was something different about it. She then looked to a tree, seeing markings on the branch.

Laura felt the five deep gashes in the tree, before turning to face another tree that was also covered in claw marks. The marked trees led a trail further into the wood, where the scent was growing. Laura exhaled heavily as she walked up to the next slashed tree, her nose twitching as she began feeling the scent.

 ** _"AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!"_** a voice cried from the glade. Laura quickly turned to hear the familiar voice, her eyes widening as she said "Rogue!"

* * *

"Take this, you fucks!" Gambit said as he swished his staff, prompting a resounding _**CRACK!**_ from the soldier's neck as his head twisted a three-quarter-turn. He went to untie Rogue, before being hit in the head by another soldier. As he landed next to Rogue, she said "watch out, honey!"

As Gambit rolled out of the way, Rogue lifted her leg up, kicking the soldier in the groin. The soldier yelped and clutched his privates, before Psylocke landed on his back and wrapped her arms around his head, twisting it back to dispatch the soldier.

Gambit tore the ropes binding Rogue to the tree as she punched another soldier and lifted one over her head, throwing him onto the ground and pressing her foot to his neck as she said "you messed with the wrong X-Men, motherfucker!"

"Lower your weapons!" an armed soldier said as he aimed his rifle, before Deadpool jumped over his head and swiped his katana across the man's armor. As the Kevlar armor was split in half, Wade saw the large Green Lantern logo on the man's shirt.

"Oh... you're gonna be sorry you wore that today!" Wade said, before running the katana through the soldier's throat and dragging it down from his neck to his groin. Psylocke said "good job, guys. But they're still coming from all corners."

"Come on! Back-to-back!" Rogue said as they all stood in a circle, ready to take on the emerging soldiers. Suddenly, everyone looked up and froze as they heard a voice not unlike that of a wild beast.

 ** _RRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!_**

"Holy fuck! It's The Wolverine!" one of the soldiers said, before two sharp blades ripped into his chest, spilling litres of blood down his shirt. The other soldiers gasped in shock, rapidly firing their rifles as Laura held the man up as a shield.

When the corpse was finally dismembered beyond repair, Laura dropped the body and ran towards the soldiers at full speed, her claws tearing out of her knuckles and shoes as she leaped into the air to tackle another one of the soldiers.

 ** _"Grrrrrrggghh! Gah! Rrraagghh! AARRGGHH!"_** Laura shrieked as she continued ramming her claws into the soldier's chest, staining the dirt and leaves with crimson blood before slamming the sole of her boot onto the man's face, spreading the innards of his skull onto the ground.

She leaped up again, kicking her foot up into a soldier's crotch with her foot claw unsheathed. **_"EEEEEEEEEHHHH!"_** As the man squealed in agony, Laura leaped up onto his shoulders and drove her claws into the soldier's neck, tearing his head from his shoulders as his spinal cord came with it.

Rogue watched in disbelief as the soldiers continued to surround Laura, who hit one soldier over the head with the previous soldier's detached spine, ramming it into another's eye before ramming her claws up the throat of her next victim.

 ** _HACK! SLASH! SKINT! HACK! SLASH! SKINT!_** went the sound of her claws as she tore her way through the soldiers, leaving inhuman piles of flesh and blood in her path. When she came to the final soldier, she tore the gun from his hand, shattering it over his face as his broken nose began spilling blood, before jamming her claws into his eyes and through the tree behind him.

Laura panted heavily as she drew her claws out of the man's face, retracting them back into her bloodied fists as she laid back on the floor. She turned to see Rogue, Deadpool, Gambit and Psylocke staring in shock, sighing as she tried not to look them in the eye.

"Laura..." Rogue said, as Laura turned in shame. "Laura... that... that was... fucking incredible! Wow!"

"Really?" Laura asked, as Rogue nodded, saying "why the fuck not. You were fucking amazing, sugar!"

 _"Maybe not amazing enough, comrade."_ a deep voice called from the darkness. The group drew their weapons as the figure walked out to face them.


	11. Face-Off

Rossovich stepped out into the glade, as Rogue held Laura close. She said "Omega Red. Long time no see, fuckwit."

 _"Мисс Роуг."_ Omega answered, before elongating his silver tentacles from his arms. Laura looked from behind Rogue, before Omega saw her and said "so, you are The Wolverine's _Ребенок_ , eh? She doesn't look like much, does she?"

"Oh you'll be surprised, Ivan Drago." Deadpool snarked. Rossovich then grinned, saying to Laura "Mr Essex wanted me to bring you to him. But he did not say alive."

 ** _"Grrrrrrrrrrr..."_** Laura snarled as she unsheathed her claws and stepped out from behind Rogue, who motioned to the others to stand back a bit.

Omega charged toward Laura with his sword, swinging his tentacles and shattering a tree behind her as she narrowly avoided his attacks. Omega swung again, Laura sliding under his legs and raising her claws behind him. Omega saw this, quickly swishing his fist back and knocking Laura backwards.

 ** _"Oof!"_** Laura went as she smacked hard against a tree. "Oh my God. Laura!" Rogue said as she ran to help her, before Laura raised her hand and said "stop! I don't want your help!"

Laura shook herself steady and launched herself off of the tree, Omega swinging his tentacle again before Laura slid onto her knees, kicking Omega's foot from under him as he landed on his back. They both got to their feet, Laura swiping with her claws as Omega dodged, before Laura jumped up and kicked him in the stomach.

"Gggrraagghh!" Omega groaned as he swished his tentacle down, Laura swiping past it before swinging with her claws, slashing Omega across the face. " ** _AGH!_** Little _Братик_!"

As he felt the two bloody scratches leading from his cheek to his neck, Omega glared at Laura, who roared in fury as she ran towards him. Omega grinned as this happened, reaching for the small hilt in his utility belt.

Laura swiped again, before Omega dodged the blow, brandishing a small blaster and firing it at Laura's stomach. **_"Argh!"_** Laura said as she hit the ground.

As Laura got up again, she looked at the small yellow circle on her chest, which suddenly opened and produced an electric shock that struck her entire body. **_TTTZZZAAAPPP!_**

 ** _"RRRRRAAAGGGGHHHHH!"_** Laura screamed in agony as she was electrocuted. "No!" Rogue said, before scowling at Omega.

Omega grinned as he pulled out retractable shackles from his belt and walked over to Laura's body, before Rogue said "you sum bitch! **_I'll fuckin' kill you for that!_** Come on!"

Omega then swung his tentacle at Rogue, who grabbed it with both hands effortlessly. When he realized what she was going to do, his grin dropped as he said _"дерьмо."_

 ** _"AAARRGGHHH!"_** Rogue groaned as she spun in a circle, swinging Omega into a pile of rocks with a loud **_CRASH!_**

As Omega crawled to his feet, Rogue suddenly tackled him again, pinning him onto his back as she swung a fist into his face. **_BASH! CRACK!_**

Rogue panted heavily as she crawled off of Omega's body, his head having left a miniature crater in the ground due to the impact of the blow. She then ran over to Laura, who was close to unconsciousness after the electricity had finished shocking her.

Rogue tore the shocker from her chest, saying "Laura? Honey, y'okay?"

 ** _"RRAAGGHH!"_** Laura roared as she unsheathed her claws, freezing in mid-action moments before she could stab Rogue. Her eyes widened as she looked at her claws and Rogue's shocked expression, before retracting them and falling back, rapidly saying _"Lo... lo siento... Lo siento... Lo siento mucho... I'm so sorry."_

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Rogue said, exhaling heavily as she chuckled, saying "it's okay. You're not the first person to try that on me, y'know."

Deadpool scoffed, saying "you won't get points for guessing who, BTW."

"Now, sweetie." Psylocke said as Rogue and Laura stood up. "Why'd you run off like that?"

"I thought I smelled... I smelled Logan." Laura said, still confused at what she had done. Suddenly, a large spotlight shone over the group, Laura looking up to see it's source.

"So! I take it you got my signal!" a familiar voice said, before the light went down and a woman leaped from the tree. Laura's eyes widened as she saw the woman phasing through the branches, landing on the ground with other mutants behind her.

A large grin crossed Rogue's face as she ran over and embraced the woman tightly, the latter gasping for breath as she said "yep... it's good to see you too, Rogue."

"Sorry, Kitty." Rogue said as she put her down. "Still gettin' used to the super strength, y'know."

"I can tell. Argh." Kitty said as she stretched back, clicking her spine back into place. One of the mutants, a large black man with the letter M scarred across his eye, said "is this our new recruit?"

"Yeah, Bishop. This is Laura." Rogue said. Laura paid no attention, as the familiar scent caught her attention again. She pushed past Kitty and Bishop, following the scent to the edge of the glade, where she saw two dark eyes watching her.

The figure rose out of the glade, towering above Laura in his dark yellow and brown fur coat. Some of his hairs were long and golden, trailing like rat tails down his shoulders, while he had small mutton chops around a mouth of sharp fangs.

"Well... with Sinister performin' his usual bullshit, I figured it was only a matter of time before I met Jimmy's little tag-along."

The figure grinned as he stepped out, brandishing the long yellow nails on his fingers. Laura's eyes widened as she stepped back nervously, before Kitty said "cut it out, Sabretooth. This isn't about Logan!"

Laura still snarled a bit at Sabretooth as she backed into Rogue, who calmly said "easy, sugar. Easy."

"Rogue. Who's that?" Laura said through gritted teeth. Sabretooth continued grinning as he took a toothpick out of his sharp canines. "I'm your Uncle Victor, kid."


	12. Trinket

Deadpool waved two glowsticks in the air, motioning Dopinder to land the jet near to them. Bishop said "we must get to our base. You will be safe there."

Psylocke said "oh, good. I've been looking forward to seeing it." as she pressed her hands on her hips. Rogue looked into the sky, saying "it won't be long til Sinister gets here. We gotta go. Laura! Come on."

A small sparkle on the ground caught Laura's eye, prompting her to turn and see a small silver item lying in the dirt. "Laura! Let's move!" Rogue called from the jet.

As the group entered, Laura picked up the trinket and held it in her hands before following the others.

* * *

Essex's men investigated the area, cleaning up the corpses the X-Men had left. Essex watched as his soldiers dragged Omega out of the dirt, his bloodied and battered body lying limp on the ground.

Essex lowered himself to Omega's level, stabbing the synringe into the mutant's neck. As he injected the enhancement serum, he said "it appears your revenge mission against the Wolverine's offspring didn't go so well, did it?"

Omega coughed, spitting out blood as his tentacles retracted and his wounds pulled themselves back together. He said to Essex "ready for Round 2, _Мастер_."

"Let's hope so." Essex said, before looking to see Omega's fired blaster on the ground. He then grinned, saying to Regan "be a good girl and fire up the tracking beacon. And tell the handlers to let our little pale friend. Perhaps this isn't as much of a disaster as I'd anticipated."

* * *

As they all stood in the jet, Rogue said to Kitty "did you hear from Bobby yet?"

"No. We haven't seen him since we sent you the message." Kitty said. "He took another escape route to me. I don't know if they caught him or he's trapped or lost or whatever."

As everyone sat silently, Laura sat in the corner, looking at the trinket she had found. It was decorated in a shell-like pattern, and appeared to be a casing of sorts. At one corner, it had a small handle with which to open the case, but Laura couldn't open it no matter how hard she tried.

She looked on top of the case, seeing a small hole that appeared to be a sort of keyhole. If she had the key, it'd be likely that she could open it then, but of course, seeing how she'd just found it on the floor she didn't have a key.

Before she could inspect it further, Rogue said "Laura? Y'okay, sugar?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Great. We're almost at the camp. What you got there?"

"Just a little treasure I found." Laura answered, keeping it hidden from Rogue.

* * *

When the jet landed, Rogue said to Laura "you'll like it here. I'll have to introduce y'to everybody. Just don't hang out with Victor, kay? He's crazy."

"And he can hear what you're saying too." Victor said as he looked out the window, not turning to face them as they left.

Laura looked up as she saw Psylocke look in her pocket, while her eyes widened as she muttered to herself "shit! Shit! Shit! Where the fuck is it?!"

"Psy? Y'okay?" Gambit said, before Psylocke said "fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Where'd it go!"

"What'd you lose?" Kitty asked, before Psylocke turned to Laura, who was still holding the unopened trinket. "HEY! YOU! GIMME THAT!" she snapped as she swiped it out of Laura's hands aggressively.

Laura looked up in confusion as Psylocke held the trinket, angrily saying to Laura "don't take stuff that doesn't belong to you, you little shit!"

"What?"

"Why'd you take it!"

"I... I... I..." Laura said as quickly as she could, tears falling from her eyes as she struggled to answer.

"Go on! Answer the fucking question!"

Rogue turned back to see this, saying "oh, for God's sake! Betty!"

"I.. I.. I f.. I found it..." Laura stuttered as Psylocke groaned aggressively. She hissed venomously as she said to Laura "you see this thing? This is the only thing I have left in this dickhead world and I don't want a fucking little mistake like you stealing it from me! Understand?!"

"Betty! BETTY! For fuck's sake, knock it off!" Rogue said as she dragged Psylocke back. "Just calm down, kay? She didn't know it was yours."

"Oh fuck you, Rogue! Stop fucking defending her just 'cause she's your little fucking replacement!" Psylocke snapped, her eyes becoming wetter as she groaned furiously and stormed off.

Rogue sighed, before looking to Laura, who was panting heavily on the ground with her eyes wet and her face red. Rogue said "come on, honey. Let's get you on your fe..."

"NO! Get off me! Leave me alone!" Laura snapped, forcing Rogue's hand off of her. Rogue then smiled, saying "aw, come on, sugar. Don't get upset. You didn't do nothin' wrong."

"I... I didn't mean... I didn't... I didn't know."

"I know you didn't, Laura. Nobody's blamin' you, honey. Psy's just, you know, _attached_ to that little thing." Rogue said comfortingly. Laura wiped her eyes as she calmed down, as Wade said "you know your dad would probably have cut her head off though, right?"

Laura scoffed, before Deadpool sighed, saying "well, I can't wait to see what the reviews think of this."

Psylocke watched them from a window, sighing to herself as she looked at the closed trinket. She had already regretting talking to Laura like that, but she stopped herself from going outside and just sat at the table. She opened the trinket, a tear falling down her face as she looked at the photograph inside.


	13. Fireside Chat - Tent

That night, the mutants sat in a circle around a campfire. Laura sat out of the circle, sharpening a stick with her claws. A voice called out to her. "Hey, Laura? Y'okay?"

Laura turned to face Rogue, nodding silently, before Rogue patted the space next to her and said "come on. Want something to eat?"

Laura put down the stick and silently walked over to the group, sitting in the space as Rogue gave her room. Laura looked up to see Psylocke sitting on the other end of the circle. She looked away from Laura, holding the trinket in her hand.

Deadpool said "here. You'll like it." as he passed Laura a stick, with a small white marshmallow stuck to the top. She took the stick and followed his example, dipping it over the fire and twirling it between the flames.

She took a taste, before Rogue said "so, Laura. I uh... we're gonna be going in tomorrow. Gettin' Sinister. You're gonna be ready?"

Laura nodded as she continued eating, before Psylocke stood up and yawned, saying "well, boy am I beat. I guess I should, you know... get to bed."

"She got a point." Gambit said, before Kitty said "we got tents in the bunkers. You know how to set up a tent, Laura?"

Laura nodded quickly. She had no idea, but she didn't want them fussing too much.

* * *

As the mutants went into the bunker, Laura looked to one of the rooms, where she saw Victor sitting. He was scraping his nail across the table, making some sort of picture with his markings.

"You like wood drawings, kid?" Victor said without turning to face her. Laura's eyes widened, she hadn't expected him to notice her. She nervously stepped out into the light of the candle on the table, before Victor turned to face her, his canines protruding from the grin on his face.

"So, guess Jimmy got sick of adopting, so he tried to have his own." Victor scoffed. Laura said "and you're the Sabertooth?"

"Ha ha. Well, used to be. Guess you got that from these?" he answered as he held up some X-Men comics. Laura readied her claws under her knuckles, before looking at the papers in his hands.

She had never seen these particular issues before, so they weren't hers. Victor said "it's kind of weird reading what other assholes write about you, ain't it? Last I checked, I didn't look like some jacked up Mr Universe."

"It's better than how you look, now." Laura snarked, as Victor chuckled, saying "is that so? Well, I'm hoping you're used to disappointments."

"More or less." Laura sighed. She thought for a moment, before saying "were you a bad guy then too?"

He grinned again, before saying "you got no idea, kiddo."

After another pause, he said "well, it'd be nice to have some sort of legacy. Hell, you actually make me jealous of Jimmy."

Laura sniffled, before saying "I am not his legacy. I never will be." as she left the room.

* * *

With the rest of the group asleep, Laura grabbed one of the disassembled tents and brought it to a small corner. She opened the manual, confused by the silhouetted instructions.

First, she tried attaching the beams first, though they broke free and slashed her across the face. She then tried building the tent without them first, though the fabric collapsed each time she tried to insert the beams. Finally, she tried building them together, though the fabrics collapsed and sent the beams into her face again.

"RRRRAAAAGGGGHHHH!" Laura roared angrily as she lifted the remains of the tent over her head and turned around. To her surprise, Psylocke stood grinning at her with her arms folded.

Laura groaned as she dropped the tent and slumped back on the ground. Psylocke bent down to her level, saying "you need a hand there, grumpy?"

Laura sighed, before nodding silently, before Psylocke said "alright-y then. Right, let's start here."

She then began assembling the tent, with much less stress or effort than Laura had taken. Laura sat back and watched, before Psylocke said "so anyway... I'm sorry about earlier. I know it wasn't your fault."

Laura sat silently as Psylocke continued assembling the tent, before she said "why is the trinket so special to you?"

"What? You mean this?" Psylocke said as she showed it to Laura. Laura nodded, before saying "what is it?"

A small tear came to Betty's face as she cracked open the trinket, before clearing her throat as she said "it's uh... _**a-hem!**_... an old family photo."

Laura peeked over Betty's shoulder, seeing the image. The picture showed a woman, holding two children. One was a young, raven-haired girl with a bright pink streak in her hair, while the other was a thin, pale-faced creature with a bald head and golden eyes.

"Caliban." Laura said, having recognized the pale creature. Betty nodded, saying "uh, yeah... it's Caliban."

"Did you know him?"

"Know him? You bet your ass I did." Betty said, before silently continuing to look at the picture. Laura wanted to listen, though Betty said nothing, and so she went back to her tent. Suddenly, Betty spoke.

"About 50 years ago, my uh... my mother, fought the X-Men." she started. Laura sat straight back down to listen, as Betty continued "that was the 80s. Anyway, back then she worked for a mutant called Caliban. He was a cunt, apparently, and she jumped at the chance to get away from him."

"Where did she go?" Laura asked, as Betty said "oh, I don't know. Some cult leader or some shit. It was complicated is what I'm gonna say."

"Okay." Laura said. Betty continued "anyway, in the 90s, she was captured by Sinister. Experimented on. Caliban got the X-Men to help get her back and uh... well, um..."

"What happened?"

"Caliban destroyed the Essex factories after they freed her. He didn't make it out." Betty said. Laura sighed, before saying "but... that doesn't work... how did he survive?"

"He didn't." Betty said. "Turns out, he had a kid. Just like him, well, a little less, you know... schizophrenic. My mother found him and brought him with us. She raised us together in England and, well... when she died, we both went to America, looking for the Professor. That's when Logan found us and, uh... we joined the X-Men."

Laura looked at the pictures on her comic book, seeing the purple-dressed figure with the energy sword. "So... this is you, then?" she asked.

Betty scoffed, saying "wow. I haven't seen that in years. Jesus, is my ass really that big?"

"Logan told me this was all bullshit, so probably not."

"Well, that's too bad. But Logan always hated these. Maybe it was how they drew his costume." Betty laughed. Laura sighed before laying on her back, before Betty continued reading the comics, saying to her "back when I was a student for Xavier, I studied art. They said I was a natural. I always wanted to draw the stuff in these little books, but I guess the ability to generate energy weapons got me roped into active duty instead."

"I'm sure you'll get to do it someday." Laura smiled as she picked up her helmet, stroking the side of it with her hand. Betty took a breath, before saying "well... if you're sticking around after this, I'll have to get to work trying to draw what you'll look like here."

"Why would I be there?" Laura said, suddenly perking up. Betty then said "well, you know, Wolverine was always the most popular one in our team. Y'know how happy the fans'll be when they get to see their new hero?"

"I am **_not_** my father, Miss Psylocke." Laura said venomously. "I can't be his legacy. His successor. I don't want to be the All-New-Wolverine that everyone says I am. I never have been. I'm just the mistake he didn't know existed."

Laura then stood up and went back to her assembled tent, as Betty sat outside. She sat silently, before saying "hey, Laura... I'm sorry. Trust me, the last thing I wanna do is make you compare yourself to your dad."

Laura kept her ear to the side of the tent, without responding. She lay on her back and faced away from the entrance, before Betty groaned. She turned to the tent, and said "goodnight, honey."

* * *

 _Three hours later..._

Laura sat awake on her back in the tent. She wasn't tired, and she hadn't been since she'd spoken to Betty. She checked the clock next to her, seeing the time. 4:13 am. She stared at the clock for a good while after the 13 changed to 14 that changed to 15 for a good five minutes. Then the scent came.

Laura sniffed the air, before her ears caught sounds of twigs snapping and grass being stepped on. **_BRAT-AT-AT-AT-AT!_** went the sudden flurry of bullets in the background, causing Laura to shoot off of her back. The entrance to the tent flew open and Betty poked her head in, frantically saying "Laura. Come on! Move!"

"What's happening?" Laura answered, before Betty said "they're here. We're being attacked!"


	14. Prisoners

Laura ran with Betty out onto the field, where Essex's soldiers opened fire on the mutants. Betty pushed Laura aside and swung her sword up, decapitating one of the soldiers as she said to Laura "I'll hold 'em off. You get the others!"

"Okay." Laura said as she ran into the battle. Betty watched where she went; not noticing a pale creature covered in metal armor attack her from behind. Betty groaned as she was thrown against a tree and restrained by the soldiers.

Laura continued her way across the battlefield, hacking down attackers without mercy. She saw Rogue and Gambit being tied up with Kitty and the others, running up to their captors with her claws unsheathed.

 ** _"RRRAAAGGGHHH!"_** Laura yelled as she leaped into the air, pinning down the soldiers as she slashed their corpses to bits. "Laura. Laura, behind you!" Rogue shouted, Laura turning to see Omega with a gun in his hand.

"Greetings, child." Omega said before swinging the gun down onto Laura's face. **_WHAM!_**

* * *

"Ugh… wh… where… oh…" Laura groaned as she used all of her strength to open her eyes. There was no light, and she wasn't wearing her armor. **_FLASH!_** all of a sudden the light came on, causing Laura to tense her eyes shut as it burned in front of her.

When her eyes adjusted, she looked down to her chest. She wore a baggy white shirt with black trousers that were clearly too big to fit her. Her hands were wrapped in metal chains, which covered her knuckles to prevent her claws from emerging. A thick chain was fastened to her neck, as she turned to see Omega holding it.

She turned to her left, seeing Rogue, Gambit, Victor and Betty chained up in separate cells. The door opened, and a blonde woman entered, followed by a lean man with chalk-white skin and pitch black hair. He chuckled as he removed his shades, red eyes beaming like lasers in the dark room.

"Sinister…" Gambit said, before his captor slammed him with a hard wooden club, saying "SHUT IT, MUTIE!"

"Easy, now." the pale man said as he sat down. "That will not be necessary."

Essex looked at the captives, scoffing as he said "well, well, well... if it isn't the X-Men themselves. It seems Bishop and Wade Wilson couldn't feel to join us tonight."

"Where's Bobby?" Rogue said, before Essex added "oh, and look who else is here. Sabretooth. The second most dangerous senior citizen of all time. And of course, Psylocke Jr. Come to get a little payback for your brother, Betty?"

Psylocke scowled as she got out her sword, saying "why don't you come a little closer and find out?"

"Aw. Did you not take a shine to our special bloodhounds that caught you?" Essex asked. "Made with a generous donation of Caliban's DNA."

"You fucking monster!" Betty snarled as she stood up and tried to attack Essex, though her chains held her back. "Where's Bobby?!" Rogue asked again, before Essex said "all in good time, dear. But first, why don't we all take a little trip to my laboratories."

"I said, WHERE IS BOBBY? YOU MOTHER FUCKER!" Rogue said as she up. He chuckled, before saying "well, he's made a fine addition to my ice sculpture collection."

"RRRRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" Rogue yelled as she grabbed Essex by the collar and sent her fist directly into his face. The soldiers tensed as an audible **_CRACK!_** was heard while Essex fell back, blood flowing profusely from his nose.

As several soldiers hoisted Rogue back, Regan handed Essex a snow-white cloth to cover his nose, his voice becoming muffled as he said "well, that was a little more… emotional, than I expected."

One of the soldiers stuck a syringe into Rogue's neck, sending a red liquid into her vain. _"Rogue..."_ Laura said as she struggled to free herself, before Omega yanked her chain back. Laura continued struggling as Rogue fell unconscious, though this sound got Essex's attention, as he walked over to where Laura was held. He laughed, saying "so... this? This is the great X-23? Zander Rice's biggest mistake."

Laura growled as she tried to get up, before Essex said "I've heard a lot about you. I trust you know who I am as well."

Laura didn't answer, prompting Essex to say "very well. My name is Nathaniel Essex. Or perhaps you know me as quote-unquote _Mr Sinister_. Enemy of mutants worldwide. Does this ring any bells?"

Laura nodded silently, before Essex grabbed her chin. Laura bared her teeth, though Omega tightened the chains. As Essex examined her, he mumbled to himself. "Hm. Fascinating. Ha ha, you know, I've wanted to meet you for a very long time, Laura. A pity that it took the loss of Xavier and the Wolverine for us to finally interact."

"You… killed… them…" Laura snarled viciously, before Essex said "well, if that were the case, I'd have received the medal of honor by now. Killing two living Weapons of Mass Destruction would get you a lot of media attention."

"RRRAAAGGGHHH!" Laura said as she struggled to free herself, seeing blood trickle down her knuckles. Essex saw this, saying "oh, yes. I almost forgot. You see, your shackles are laced with Adamantium. I wouldn't recommend getting out those little knuckle-knives you have in there."

Essex then got up, turning to Regan. "Take the four to the laboratories."

"What about the girl?" Regan asked. Essex turned back to Laura, saying "there's some feistiness left in her. Put her with the other children. She can work it off."

* * *

Laura was forced onto her feet, Omega still holding her chain with a gun pointed to her head. They followed Regan out of the room and into the open campus. Laura looked to either side of the campus, seeing Essex's troops standing guard, armed to the teeth.

Her eyes widened as she saw the large wired fence squared around a large perimeter of the campus. It was a cage, filled with children. Mutant children. Laura was already horrified by what she saw, but then the voice called from the cage.

"Laura? Laura!"

Laura gasped, trying to run to the cage as she said "Rictor! Rictor! What are you doing here?"

Regan opened the cage, before Omega unlocked Laura's chain and shoved her inside. Laura landed on the hard gravel, the other children helping her to her feet. She looked up in disgust, seeing Jonah, Delilah, Rebecca, Gideon, Bobby all chained up as well.

 ** _"Oh, and another detail I forgot to share…"_** a voice called from a speaker. Laura looked to the high platform on the building, seeing Essex standing with a megaphone. He said **_"we picked up your friends just outside of North Dakota. I finally saw that place your comic books talked about. Eden. Lovely little spot, isn't it? Of course, you never got there, did you, Laura?"_**

Laura turned back to her friends as Essex went back inside, saying to them "what has he done to you?"

Some of the children turned away, not wanting to talk about their experiences, but Bobby and Rictor stayed, as Bobby said "We've been here for five days. They made us work. Beat us up…"

"We haven't eaten or drank since we got here…" Rictor said. "Laura. Where did you go? You left us before we got to Eden."

"I… I… I don't know…" Laura said, looking through the wires of the cage to see Gambit, Rogue, Victor and Betty being carted away in chains.

"What are we going to do?"


	15. Punishment

As the sun rose in the red morning sky, Laura clambered to her feet with the other children, watching the armored doors of the fortress opening as the soldiers marched out, moving single-file in several straight lines. She watched as they halted in-sync at the foot of the building, as the window opened and Essex stepped out, standing at the balcony.

The soldiers stood silently, before Essex grabbed his megaphone and spoke through it. **_"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get them to work!"_**

Two soldiers entered the cage, tightening the chains that were attached to all the prisoners' legs. The mutants were held at gunpoint as they were led out of the cage and over to the large crater of metal.

Laura stood in a line with the other children, who were passing down large chunks of metal that were being plucked from the rock. As one child passed Laura a piece of metal, she handed it to Rictor, who handed it down the line.

Laura said "why do they need all this metal?"

"Who knows?" Rictor said as they continued lifting the scraps. Laura looked up to the structures that surrounded the mine, seeing Bobby and Rebecca trying to carry large beams of wood. To the left of the structures stood a group of soldiers, who were armed and guarding any escape attempts. Essex sat at a table with Regan, both of them drinking cups of tea from white ivory cups.

As she observed, she felt the child in front nudge her aggressively, prompting her to take the metal out of his hands. She looked at the large chunk in her hands. It resembled a face that she recognized, perhaps from the comics she read, before she passed it down the line Suddenly, loud screams of anguish and pain were heard, the children looking up to the structures. Bobby and Rebecca cried anxiously as they tried to hold up the beam, before Rebecca fell back and the platform they stood on collapsed.

The soldiers and children stood back as the dust emanated from the wreckage. Essex groaned as he finished his tea, turning to Omega and saying "why don't you go down there and enforce some discipline?"

Laura watched as Omega and two other soldiers shoved their way past the children, grabbing Bobby and Rebecca and dragging them toward Essex's table. Omega extended one of his tentacles, which stretched into a long whip-like shape with small sharp protrusions lining down it.

The children stepped back silently as Bobby and Rebecca were forced onto their knees and their arms were tied behind two posts. One of the soldiers grabbed the back of Rebecca's shirt, tearing it open and exposing her back. Laura turned to Rictor, a hopeless look on his face as he watched.

 ** _WA-PSSSH!_** Omega swung his whip, slashing across Rebecca's back as she tightly gripped the posts she was tied to. **_WA-PSSSH!_** He swung again, with the tearing flesh being audible from Laura's position. **_WA-PSSSH!_** As Omega swung a third time, she slowly stepped past Rictor, who said "Laura? No! What are you doing?!"

She stood on the pile of rubble that the accident had caused, seeing the bloody wounds on Rebecca's back. **_WA-PSSSH!_** Omega lashed her again, and Laura knew if Rebecca took much more punishment, they'd cut through to the bone.

 ** _WA-PSSSH!_** Tears stained Rebecca's face as Omega readied his whip again. Before he could strike, Laura stood tall on top of the rubble.

"NO!" Laura yelled at the top of her lungs, the sound of her voice echoing loudly throughout the valley. Omega turned to see her as the other children began loudly resisting, throwing down the rocks they held and standing tall and proud. Essex sighed as he saw this, turning to his other guards and saying "bring her over here."

The two guards restrained Laura, lifting her up and pulling her through the crowd of the children. The children cheered for her as she was dragged forward, being forced to her knees in front of Essex. One of his servants passed him a shiny silver pistol, as he stood up and walked over to her.

Essex bent down to her level, taking two small black bullets and snapping them into the gun. Laura recognized the Adamantium bullets, having seen the one that Logan had before he died, and turned to Rebecca, who looked up to her in awe. Rebecca slowly cracked a smile, though Laura could tell she was still in pain from her bloody lashes.

Essex nonchalantly held the gun in his hand, as he said to Laura "tell them to get back to work."

Laura looked up to him defiantly, staying silent without changing the confident scowl on her face. Essex sighed, before looking to Omega behind her and nodding. Two soldiers grabbed either one of Laura's arms, holding them out as a third soldier grabbed the back of her shirt, the silence being broken by the sound of the cloth tearing open.

 ** _WA-PSSSH!_** Laura did not break eye contact with Essex as the whip lashed her flesh, only tensing slightly as she felt it's sting. **_WA-PSSSH!_** Omega swung again, while Laura bit her lip to try and bear with the pain, still not leaving Essex's eye contact. **_WA-PSSSH!_** Essex grinned as he heard Laura whimper slightly with the third lash, though she still stood on her knees as she felt the blood dribbling down her back. **_WA-PSSSH!_** Laura felt a tear fall down her face and drip off her chin with the fourth lash, as the grin on Essex's face grew larger. **_WA-PSSSH!_** With the final lash dealt, the guards let go of Laura, who landed face-first to the ground, with the blood pouring down from her slowly-healing lashes.

Laura coughed up dirt as she propped herself up with her elbows, slowly pulling herself up onto her knees. Essex repeated his earlier statement. "Tell them to get back to work."

"They... are... starving..." Laura wheezed out painfully. Essex raised an eyebrow as he made his demand a third time. "Tell them to get back to work."

"You're... killing them..." Laura said with all of her strength. Essex groaned as his soldiers held Rebecca up on her knees, swinging his pistol directly to her forehead and firing the first shot.

 ** _BANG!_** Laura turned in shock as Rebecca fell dead, the ground being stained by the blood from the gunshot in her head. She turned to Essex before she leaped up and tried to attack him, the guards barely restraining her as she did this.

"Right! I've had enough of your shit!" Essex said as he loaded the final bullet, aiming it directly at Laura's forehead. Laura remained stone-faced as she pressed her head against the gun, daring Essex to shoot her.

 ** _CLICK-CLICK!_** went the gun as Essex cocked it into place, readying to shoot Laura. Laura closed her eyes tightly as she prepared herself for the bullet, when suddenly...

Everyone turned to see Rictor groaning as he picked up a large chunk of metal. He motioned to the others, saying "come on, everybody! Back to work! Hurry!"

Essex grinned as the children got back to work, looking down to Laura and Bobby, who sat next to Rebecca's corpse. He turned to Omega, saying "the boy goes back to work. Take the feisty one to our _special accommodation_. Oh, and someone dispose of that ugly corpse there, please."

Laura lifelessly let the guards lift her off of her feet, clasping a chain around her neck as Omega pushed her away from the workplace. She turned back to Rebecca's corpse as Essex's men carried it away.

* * *

Wade lowered his goggles as he quickly hid behind the rock. He ran back to Bishop and the remaining mutants, as he said "they're working on something. They need a lot of metal."

"That's the children. Where are our X-Men?" Bishop asked.

"They're in the labs. And Logan Jr's being made an example of."

"You've got a spy in there, Wade. Where is she?"

"Oh, it's gonna be fine. She's working on an escape attempt."


	16. Negotiating

Laura groaned as the soldiers tossed her into the small cage opposite the other prison. One of them picked up a stone and tossed it through the bars.

"ARGH!" Laura yelped as it shattered against her forehead, causing her to hit the ground hard, landing in a small puddle.

"Don't get too thirsty, mutie!" the other guard said. "That ain't apple juice in there! Ha ha ha!"

Laura held two of the bars to hoist herself up, sitting in the corner of the cage and panting heavily. A few tears dribbled down her face as she slammed her head against the bars, slowly dropping off to sleep as the night closed in.

* * *

 _"What did I tell you?" a voice said, awakening Laura from her sleep. She turned to see Logan, who was kneeling down in front of her. He added "I told you not to be what they made you."_

 _"What does it matter what you told me?" she groaned. "You're dead."_

 _"Yeah. But you're still here. And they'll always see me when they look at you."  
_

 _"I know." Laura said, sighing heavily as she looked at her reflection in the puddle next to her. She groaned as she kicked it angrily, creating a small splash in the process._

 _"So what's with the cage?" Logan asked. Laura spat in the dirt, saying "I did what was right. Isn't that what the X-Men do? What's right?"_

 _"And what makes you think you're an X-Man?" Logan asked, prompting Laura to look to the ground, as she said "I... I don't know, daddy... maybe I... I wanted to be like you."_

 _"I wanted you to be better than me." Logan said. After a brief silence, he said "are you thirsty, Laura?"_

 _Laura shrugged, saying "a little. Why?"_

* * *

 ** _SLLOSSSHHH!_** went the water as it splashed through the bars on Laura, awakening her from her hallucination. _"Huuuggghhh-haaarrrggghhh... Huuuggghhh-haaarrrggghhh..."_ Laura wheezed rapidly as she clutched herself, losing body heat to the freezing water.

She looked up, seeing Omega with an empty pail and two guards. He said "Dr Essex want to talk."

* * *

Laura was led into Essex's office by the guards, having a chain around her neck and shackles on her wrists. She saw Essex looking at a table, where an IPod was playing a familiar song.

 _Like the north wind whistlin' down the sky_  
 _I've got a song, I've got a song_  
 _Like the whippoorwill and the baby's cry_  
 _I've got a song, I've got a song_  
 _And I carry it with me and I sing it loud_  
 _If it gets me nowhere, I'll go there proud_

"It's become apparent to me that you won't mind being made a martyr of." Essex said as he began fiddling with the small models on his desk. "So if you disrupt the work again, I'll start shooting them. One by one. Do I make myself clear, Miss Howlett?"

"They are starving." Laura said. "You are killing them."

"Don't you worry. Your friends will get their food and water when they finish the work." Essex scoffed, before Laura said "if they don't get food and water, they can't finish the work…"

Essex laughed weakly, before saying "you stand before me, as a prisoner. Chained like a dog. And yet, you somehow think you're in a position to make demands with me?"

"I'm doing what's right." Laura said. Essex scoffed, before saying "oh yes. That's what you... superheroes do, isn't it? Hm."

Laura noticed one of the figures on the table, saying "you were involved in the Sentinel program."

"Oh really?" Essex said sarcastically. She then said "that's why they are working... to find the pieces."

"Wow." he scoffed as he poured himself a glass of Scotch. "Rice said you were different from the others, but... I'll admit, that _is_ impressive."

He drank from the glass, before continuing. "Bolivar Trask had a revolutionary invention at his fingertips. But that short little shit wasted a grand opportunity to deal with a childish prejudice. The Sentinel program had vast potential. With your friends' efforts, I will simply exploit that potential."

Laura listened silently as Essex pushed the sentinel figurine across the map, causing it to mow down several smaller figures. "With their high sensors, I can detect the strongest and most powerful mutants. It makes capture and experimentation all the more easier."

He grinned, before saying "imagine if we found another one of Wolverine's semen stains. Well, at least we won't have to kill him to go after them now."

"RRAAGGGHHH!" Laura snarled as she shot up, Omega holding her back as a soldier swatted her in the back of the head with his pistol. She groaned as she was held up again, Essex grinning as he said "you're definitely his. I wasn't so sure at first, but you definitely have his anger."

"Why don't you let me go, so I'll really show you _anger!_ " Laura said as she jerked forward again, Essex taking the opportunity to insert a needle into her neck. She breathed heavily as she hit the ground, feeling her skin begin to dissolve from her face as her throat became exposed. She struggled on the ground, choking up blood violently onto the floor before Essex opened a small vial, nonchalantly emptying it's light blue contents onto her face.

Laura's breath calmed as she felt the irritation become neutralised by the new toxin, as Essex explained "that was an experimental venom synthesised from my good friend, Doctor Green. I've also given you some of the cure, though I can't tell for sure if you'll still die. You might find yourself being paralysed, mentally and physically. Much like the old Professor's seizure problems that he had."

Laura looked up to him weakly, before Essex said "Regan here was there, you know. She had to feel every one of those lives slip away, being killed by the very man who promised to protect them. Ironic, isn't it, Regan?"

"Yes, sir." Regan sighed. Omega picked up Laura and carried her back to the cage, Laura breathing heavily as she huddled herself together while she shook violently. Essex grinned, saying to Regan "if she's not dead tomorrow, she goes to work with the rest of them."

The foglights were switched off, as Laura looked up to see them all leaving her alone in the cage.


	17. Inspiration

"Hhhhhhh... f-f-f-f-fuck." Laura shivered as she clutched herself tightly to pain out the cold. She noticed a shadow blocking out the foglight that was earlier blinding her. "Hey, kid."

She turned shivering, seeing a blue-skinned female looking at her from outside the cage. Her skin was more human-like than Mystique's, and her hair was an almost silver shade of platinum blonde. She grinned, saying "you must be Laura."

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Laura spat, as the mutant said "my name's Vanessa. I'm a friend of the X-Men."

Laura looked at the Essex staff uniform Vanessa was wearing, saying "so, what did they pay you to betray them?"

"No, honey. I'm a mole, not a traitor. I got you a little message from Rogue."

"Rogue? Where is she?!" Laura said, getting up and holding the bars of the cage. Vanessa passed her a note, saying "they all pitched in to give you this."

Laura unfolded the paper, seeing the handwriting written in black ink.

 _Hey Laura,_

 _I heard about what you did during the work._

 _That took a ton of balls, child._

 _You really is Wolvie's little gal, ain't you?_

 _Remy/Gambit_

She chuckled as she read this, before moving onto the next part of the writing.

 _Laura,_

 _We're in a pretty crap position right now._

 _But hearing about what you did's helping us all pull through._

 _If we don't see each other again, I just want you to know_

 _That we're all so proud of you._

 _Betty_

Laura sighed as she prepared to fold the paper, saying to Vanessa "what is he doing to them?"

"Not much. They've all been locked up. He's gonna experiment on them after he has enough corpses."

"Corpses?"

Vanessa nodded, saying "everytime one of your friends dies, Essex takes their DNA. Once he has enough, he's gonna test it on the X-Men. I'm sorry, Laura. You might wanna keep reading."

Laura looked to the sheet again, reading the final two messages.

 _Hey kiddo, it's your Uncle Vic._

 _We didn't talk much, but I know if you and Jimmy have anything in common_

 _You're already thinking about busting out. Good luck, champ._

She scoffed as she looked past Victor's message, saying to Vanessa "you wouldn't happen to have any escape plans, would you?"

"Honey, what do you think a mole is for?" Vanessa snarked. Laura looked to the note, seeing a final message:

 _Laura,_

 _I know this has been tough for you._

 _Everybody wants you to be like Logan, and I know you're not happy about it._

 _From the moment we met, I knew you were someone special. And what you did today only proves it even more._

 _They made you to be like Wolverine. But what you are is up to you, and I know Logan's just as proud of you as I am._

 _Don't be Logan. Be Laura. You're the bravest person I've ever met, and I love you, sugar._

 _Rogue._

She felt a few tears run down her face as she read this last part, turning to see the other children in the other cage. She nodded to them, looking up to Vanessa and saying "get your plan ready for tomorrow night. We're getting these kids out of here."

* * *

"You got it." Vanessa said, before shifting into the form of a light-skinned maid, who walked away quickly.

Wade, Kitty and Bishop waited with the others on the edge of the valley surrounding the work camp, as a small buggy drove up to them. Vanessa stepped out, saying "it's got to happen tomorrow night."

"Got it. This is gonna take some maximum effort." Deadpool said as he went to get some shovels with the others. Kitty said "Vanessa, how's Rogue gonna get the others out?"

"Rogue's not doing anything here. This is all Laura." Vanessa said proudly. Bishop and Kitty's eyes widened, as they said "Laura?"

* * *

Essex sat in his office, saying "Regan. Come in here a minute, will you?"

"Yes, sir." Regan said. Essex said to her "do you remember how it felt? The Westchester Incident?"

"I um... I just remember being paralysed. Watching everyone else falling down around me. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. I just wondered how our X-Men guests might feel when you're doing the same to them." Essex answered, fondling with a miniature X-logo. Regan became wide-eyed, saying "what are you talking about?"

"These children that have died have exhibited extraordinary reactions to mental stress. With the X-Men having this DNA in their bloodstreams, they may be a little more resistant to your brain-waves. And if not, well... that's four less X-Men to worry about, isn't it?"

Regan nodded reluctantly, before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. She looked through the glass window, seeing Rogue, Betty, Remy and Victor in their well-lighted cells, all sitting silently. She pressed her hand lightly against the window, saying softly "forgive me for this, old friends."


	18. Taking Out The Trash

The next morning, Laura looked up to see the armored doors of the children's cage opening as the soldiers marched out, moving single-file in several straight lines. She watched as they halted in-sync at the foot of the building, as the window opened and Essex stepped out, standing at the balcony.

The soldiers stood silently, before Essex grabbed his megaphone and spoke through it. **_"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get them to work!"_**

Two soldiers entered the cage, tightening the chains that were attached to all the prisoners' legs. The mutants were held at gunpoint as they were led out of the cage and over to the large crater of metal. Laura sighed, before seeing Essex walking over with Regan and Omega to her cage. Essex hand a small handgun, the same one he had used to kill Rebecca with. He pointed it towards her as Omega opened the cage, Laura still laying on the ground with her arms shaking.

Essex swivelled the gun, motioning Laura to come out. "Come on. You can do it." he said patronisingly. Laura scowled at him, not breaking eye contact as she slowly pulled herself to her feet, limping a bit as she stepped out of the cage. She faced Essex directly, standing tall with her chest out proudly. Essex scoffed, turning to Omega as he said "send her to the quarry. Alone."

Omega shoved Laura onward after putting an Adamantium chain around her neck.

* * *

Laura held a pick axe in her hands in the quarry, looking down to the main work site to see Rictor slowly walking out with a wheelbarrow. He turned to her, putting up four fingers, and then five. Laura nodded, looking down to where Vanessa was making breakfast for Essex and Regan. She passed on Rictor's message with her fingers, as Vanessa nodded, going to her phone and sending a text.

Wade and Kitty sat in the bushes, as Wade heard the high-pitched **_BING!_** on his phone. He read out the text:

 _45 steps to the main cage. Keep working at it. XXX_

Bishop said "what about Laura?"

"Leave it to me." Kitty said. One of the mutants then said "we're almost there. About 15 more steps and we should be bang in the centre of it."

Bishop nodded, saying "good. We wait til sundown. Then we make our move."

* * *

That night, as the children were escorted out of the mine, Laura split off from the others to go back to her private cage. A silver-skinned hand grabbed her, as Omega said "not there. We're not having you making yourself a symbol again. You go to that cage with the others."

Laura turned around as Omega shoved her into the line with Rictor and the others. As the cage was locked behind them, Laura looked to one of the older children, who said "you must be Laura."

"Yeah, why?" Laura asked as she shook the short-haired girl's hand, who said "my name's Ellie. Or, as the X-Men used to call me, Negasonic Teenage Warhead."

Laura chuckled, saying "cool name."

"Wade thought so too." Ellie said. All of a sudden... **_PFFT! PFFT!_** went the clumps of dirt fifty yards from behind the cage, hidden in the shadows. Laura looked with the other children to the hole that was getting larger and larger.

 _"Speak of the devil..."_ a voice said, before Deadpool's head shot up out of the hole, saying "and he shall appear!"

He suddenly looked around, realising that the tunnel hadn't led into the cage. He called back down into the hole, saying _"hey guys. Starting to think the fuckwit who dug this hole fucked up his trajectory a bit."_

The children's eyed widened, as Laura whispered _"Wade! Over here!"_

Wade saw them, preparing to climb out of the hole before Rictor said _"no, no no! The guard!_ "

He looked up, seeing the guard holding the foglight on the high-up platform. He quickly dashed back into the hole as the foglight passed just by the hole, the guard not noticing it as he pulled the light away. Wade took the opportunity to climb out and quickly run to the edge of the cage where Laura was.

 _"Hey, kids. Ready to go home?"_ Deadpool asked. Ellie said _"how do we do that, Douche-pool?"_

 _"We've got a plan."_ Kitty whispered as she phased up through the ground next to Wade. She pointed to another guard who was sitting a hundred yards away. _"We gotta take out that guard, and then the one up there with the light."_

 _"Kit, are you sure I shouldn't just blow his head off?"_ Wade whined, as Kitty said _"that'll get attention. Then we're fucked. We need one of you guys to distract him_

"I got an idea." Laura grinned.

* * *

The patrol guard sat drinking a Red Bull, pointing his machine gun up to the sky playfully, before Laura said **_"Hey! Beso de coño!"_**

He turned to her angrily, saying "the fuck you say to me, cholo?" as he stood up with his gun brandished. Laura said "you heard me, _hijo de puta!_ "

"You better start talkin' like a person, you Mexican little shit!" the guard said, coming closer and closer to the hole. Laura grinned as she saw this, saying _"¡Acércate un poco y acércate a mí como a un hombre, mierda castrada!"_

The man took two steps further, before Wade's hands reached out of the hole, grabbing the man by the crotch area and dragging him down before he could even scream. The children heard the **_SHING!_** of a katana sword impale the man's chest, gutting him into silence. Deadpool popped his bloody face back up through the hole, saying _"that's part 1 done. Pryde, get moving!"_

Kitty slipped out of the hole, running over to the cage and phasing through it. She said _"Laura. You're coming with me."_

Laura nodded, as Kitty grabbed both of her arms, allowing Laura to be phased through the cage with Kitty. They kept low to the ground as they ran towards the light tower, avoiding the foglight as it shone down on the ground. Laura climbed up the tower, as Kitty whispered up to her _"don't let him make a sound."_

"That might be a little difficult." Laura whispered back as she climbed up to the top of the tower. She peeked up to the platform, seeing the guard facing away from her as he checked the outside of the fortress. Laura sneaked up behind him. Her claws were still restrained, so she had to do this with her bare hands.

"RRAAGGHH!" the guard snapped as he turned suddenly, knocking Laura onto her back violently as he lassoed her arms and legs. He said "prisoner escape... _PRISONER ES- **SNAAAP!**_ "

Laura's eyes widened as Vanessa appeared, grabbing the guard from behind and turning his head a full 360 as the man hit the floor dead. Vanessa grinned as she took the keys off of the guard, using them to unlock the shackles on Laura's wrists. With her claws free, Laura cut the wires that had tied her up, as Vanessa said "alright. It's time for you kids to move on out."


	19. Escape

With the light now pointed away, Wade opened a box cutter, sticking it under the fence and pulling it up to cut through it. He twisted the two cut pieces out, creating a small space for the children to slip through. He said "alright, get moving! Come on." as he motioned the children out. Kitty knelt at the hole, saying _"come on, down here."_

After about five minutes, all of the children had jumped into the hole and were heading through the tunnel to freedom. When Vanessa went down to lead the children out, Laura was the only one left, looking up to the main building where the lights were switched on in the Essex laboratory. Wade said _"alright, kid. That's everyone, let's get outta here."_

Laura looked up quietly, saying _"my fight's not over yet. You go ahead."_

"Okay!" Wade said as he jumped into the hole. Kitty said _"what are you talking about? Laura, you can't just do this. You're just a kid."_

Laura nodded, before grabbing a weapon's belt off of the light guard's corpse. She said _"I'm not just a kid. I'm a Legacy. And it's time to finish what the X-Men started."_

Kitty sighed, before jumping into the hole and following the children out. Laura fastened the guard's belt around her waist and tiptoed past the light tower to where the building was. A guard stood at a wall ahead, but Laura grabbed him and covered his mouth, decapitating him and lowering his corpse to the ground silently. She noticed the guard on another light tower, the foglight swivelling toward her. She quickly jumped forward, hiding behind a pile of rubbing and freezing still as the light passed by slowly.

She held her breath as she saw the tip of her head being cast in shadow on the ground with the rock pile, before the light turned away from her. After checking up to see if it was clear, she quickly ran ahead, swiftly cutting down the patrol guards at each tower she passed. Finally, she reached the foot of the main building, running around to the back to avoid being spotted by the foglight. It was about 100ft high, and the lab's light made the window at the top visible.

Laura extended her claws out, leaping up a bit to ram them into the side of the wall. She groaned a bit as she hoisted herself up the brick side of the building. When she reached the window, she dropped down a bit to avoid being spotted by guards. When the coast was clear, she cut her claws through the glass, carving a circular hole for her body to fit through.

As she dropped into the white-lit hallway, Laura hid behind a wall as two scientists walked out of a room marked EXPERIMENT PRISON. Laura was certain that Rogue and the others would be in there, running up to it. Before she entered, she noticed a series of red and orange lights illuminating from the door next to it. Curiously, she opened the door and went inside.

Her eyes widened as she saw the large drone-robots being assembled by heavy machinery. Laura remembered the head shapes from the pieces of metal that she and the children had been picking up, and they looked just like the Sentinels from her comic books. She looked at the screen, which read POWER REACTOR. KEEP AWAY FROM EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS.

Laura grinned, pulling a cube-shaped item off of the guard belt she had taken. She observed it for a moment, before popping off the cap on the top. It showed a red timer marked at 5:00. She pressed the button marked "Activate and left it on the desk before running into the lab.

* * *

"Where's Laura?" Rictor said as Kitty left through the hole. "She went back for the others." Kitty said reluctantly.

"We can't just leave them." Ellie said. "We have to help her!"

After some clamouring among the children, Bishop nodded, saying "they're right. We cannot abandon them now."

"What are we waiting for, assholes?!" Deadpool said as he pulled out several swords and weapons. "Let's make those bastards pay for what they did to the X-Men! _And this timeline, too_."

* * *

"Rogue? Betty? Anyone here?" Laura said quietly as she walked into the lab. She saw Victor, Gambit, Betty and Rogue all imprisoned in air-tight cells, Betty's face brightening up as she saw her. "Laura? Ha ha! I knew you could do it!"

Rogue and Remy looked up in shock, as Victor said "you're getting more and more like Jimmy every time I see you, kid."

 _"Laura, what the fuck are you doing here?!"_ Rogue said. _"No. No! You need get the fuck out of here! You can't stay!"_

"I'm getting you all out." Laura said defiantly. "How do I open the cells?"

"The control panel." Betty said. You need to hit the right button."

"Got it!" Laura ran over to the control panel. It had a selection of different coloured buttons, each with a different command to it. "Is there a red one?" Gambit asked. "Cause it's usually the red one, gal."

Laura looked at each button closely, reading out the commands. "Torture machines? No. Cold water? No. Bedtime sto... wait, why is there a bedtime story reader?"

Rogue scoffed as she heard this, before she noticed the door opening. Laura then said "there's no red one! Oh, wait. It's her..."

 _"Laura!"_ Rogue shrieked out as Essex became visible on the other side of the door.

 ** _"AAAGGGHHH!"_** _Laura howled out as she collapsed onto her knees, her vision becoming distorted as a high-pitched ringing pierced her eardrums. Essex grinned as he entered, Regan following him in with her fingers pressed to her forehead._

 _Laura used all of her strength to look up at them, finding it harder and harder to move as she was slowly paralysed on the spot. **"Does this feel familiar to you, dear?"** Essex said mockingly._

 ** _"You see, Regan here has the ability to replicate the effects of Xavier's seizures. But she's able to concentrate it so you're only affected if she wants you to be."_**

 _Laura groaned as she began to jerk her arm forward, and then her leg, before Regan increased the force of her mental attack, the trauma causing Laura to land hard on the floor. She extended her claws out slowly, digging them into the ground to pull herself forward to the control panel._

 ** _"You don't give up easily, do you? I suppose that's another thing you have in common with your daddy."_**

 _ **"Laura! No. No!"** Rogue said as she angrily began pounding the cage walls with her fist, trying to get out and help Laura. She yelled to Essex **"leave her alone, you pale-faced son of a bitch!"**_

 _ **"Oh, I will. Don't you worry."** Essex said. **"Tell me, Laura. How did you break out?"**_

 _ **"Sir! They're gone, all of them!"** Omega said as he ran into the room. Essex's eyes widened as he said **"what do you mean? Who!?"**_

 _ **"Look!"** Omega said, pointing to the window where the fog lights were all focused on the cage._ Regan released Laura as Essex ran to the window, seeing that the cage was completely empty.

"W... what?.. _What... the..._ **_FUCK?!_** " Essex said, his slicked back hair becoming messy and unruly as he grabbed Laura by the neck, saying _"how did you get them out, you little shit!"_

Laura grinned with what remaining strength she had, saying "talk... about an... _explosive_ temper."

"What?!" Essex said, before a deafening **_BOOOM!_** erupted from the Sentinel room, sending the fire through the wall and taking Essex, Omega and Regan off of their feet.

Laura picked herself off of the ground and ran to the control panel. She pressed the large green button marked _SHUT DOWN SYSTEM_. This caused all of the cages to open as Betty, Gambit, Victor and Rogue were freed.

"Laura!" Rogue said as she ran over to her, the two embracing tightly as she added "don't ever do that again, sugar. Are y'okay, sweetie?"

"I'm fine, really. Come on, we need to get out of here!"

"How exactly did you get out?" Victor asked as Laura led them out of the room. Regan helped Essex to his feet, before he scowled furiously at Omega.

"What are you fucking sitting around for? Get moving, you Ruski _fuckwit!_ " he ordered as he shoved Omega forward. Omega nodded, before darting after the escapees.

Gambit went to his jacket, pulling out some cards as he said "we're gonna have to fight our way outta this one!"

"Remy's right!" Betty said, clenching her fist to generate a blade out of purple psionic energy. Laura went to the window she had shattered, noticing that she was the only one big enough to fit through the hole.

"Rogue? D'you mind?" Laura asked, prompting Rogue to plough her fist straight through the class, creating an entire hole in the wall. Betty climbed through first, as Laura said "get to where the cage is. There's a tunnel to the camp!"

"Got it!" Betty answered as she jumped down with Gambit, the guards attacking them as they tried to escape. Victor nodded to Laura, saying "see y'on the other side, Jimmy Jr."

"I hope not." Laura snarked as Victor leaped out the window, joining the fight down below. Rogue said "alright, Laura. It's just us now."

"A agh!" Laura yelped as she felt Omega's tentacles wrap around her arms and waist, dragging her back as Rogue said "Laura!"

Omega wrapped another tentacle around Laura's neck, the latter running short of breath as one of her foot claws slowly extended out. She swung her foot up, the blade slicing through the three tentacles with a swish SLASH! as Omega called out in agony.

Laura leaped forward, her hand claws skinting out of her knuckles as she drove them through Omega's chest, blood soaking her face and hands as she viscerally dragged them in and out of Omega's chest.

He wheezed for breath, clutching the dark crimson liquid that was spilling out of his chest as he fell back dead. Laura panted heavily as she retracted her claws, saying "put the enhancement serum on that. Asshole."

"You sure is Logan's girl, alright." Rogue grinned as she stepped out of the window, Laura following her as they tried to balance themselves on the thin bridge. Rogue turned to her, saying "y'okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Laura said. All of a sudden, a black bullet darted through the window behind them, tearing into Laura's back and shooting out of her front. "Agh!" Laura groaned as she looked at the Adamantium bullet, Rogue rushing to her side as she said "oh fuck! Laura!"

Rogue looked inside the building, seeing Essex aiming his pistol at them and firing violently. Rogue ducked to avoid being hit, as Laura said "you stay down! I'll handle this!"

"Laura, no!" Rogue said as Laura shot up, two bullets piercing her chest and stomach as she was knocked off her feet and fell off of the bridge.


	20. The Battle Begins

Laura was running short of breath as she rapidly fell from the bridge, her eyes closing a bit as she felt the ground come closer. She shut them tight, preparing to feel it on her bones, before she felt two gloved hands grab her and hoist her away from the ground with a swift **_WHOOSH!_**

Laura felt the wind in her face, opening her eyes to see that she was above the ground and moving forwards to the battle. She looked up, seeing Rogue holding her as she flew forward. "Rogue? You... you can fly?!"

"Uh, yeah..." Rogue smiled. "It's kinda long story, sugar. Now come on, let's get you back to the tunnel."

"What? No. We need to end this, now!" Laura said, looking down to see Betty, Victor and Gambit fighting Essex's soldiers. She loosened Rogue's grip on her, dropping down with her claws unsheathed as she let out a loud **_"RRRRAAAAGGGGHHHH!"_**

Rogue grinned as she saw Laura land, taking down every soldier that crossed her path. "Well, y'can't beat 'em. Join 'em." she said proudly as she flew down to the battle, kicking away a soldier that was about to shoot Laura.

Betty spun in a circle to decapitate the soldiers that surrounded her, grinning as she saw some figures emerging from the tunnel. "It looks like we've got backup!" she said proudly as Kitty, Deadpool, Vanessa and Bishop led the children out of the tunnel and into the battle.

Kitty grabbed two soldiers on either side of her, jumping onto some concrete to trap them inside it as the soldiers screamed out, allowing Wade to swing his blade over their throats. He found himself back to back with Laura, saying "well, this is sort of like the team-up that fans wanted me and your dad to do."

"Is it bad that I have no idea what you're talking about?"

"Not really. You're just like everyone else."

"Well, how do you wanna beat these guys?" Laura said as they were surrounded by the heavily armed guards. Deadpool answered "I'll tell you one thing, Wolvie Jr. It's gonna get so ugly, the studio'll add Batman sound effects in post-production."

 ** _SOCK!_**

 ** _POW!_**

 ** _ZOK!_**

 ** _BIF!_**

 ** _BAM!_**

 ** _BLAP!_**

 ** _WHAP!_**

 ** _OOOFF!_**

 ** _SKINT!_**

 ** _SLASH!_**

Laura and Wade panted heavily, standing at the top of the bloody mountain of corpses. One of them was still alive, reaching his hand up a bit before Laura drove her foot claw into his throat. She pulled them out through the soldier's face, as Wade said "so much for maximum effort, huh?" before pulling out his flip-phone.

"Hey Dopinder. It's DP! Bring us some firepower, will ya?" he said, as he saw the jet hovering over the fortress. "Alright. Aim for the big building!"

Dopinder looked on the screen, seeing three buttons: **_BIG RED_** , **_OTHER BIG RED_** and _**ALL THE FUCKING MISSILES IN THE SHIP**_ , prompting Dopinder to press all three of them in that order. Deadpool yelled out "everyone who's not an asshat, get down!" as the missiles flew into the building, causing it to erupt in a loud fireworks display.

Laura was surprised by the explosion, allowing one of the soldiers to hit her in the back of the head. She was dragged further away and surrounded by armed soldiers who aimed their guns at her. "Laura!" Rogue said, prompting Regan's attention as she and Essex struggled out of the fire.

 _"Fire!"_ the leading soldier said, before Laura looked up to see... **_BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!_** went each of their heads as they fell down in a circle of meat chunks. Laura looked to the top of the burning building, seeing Regan holding two fingers to her head. Laura grinned a bit as Regan nodded to her, her eyes widening as she saw Essex getting up behind her.

Laura reached out in warning, before a bullet tore through Regan's head with a loud **_SCCCHHHLLLOOOOAAPPPPBBBOOOMM!_** Rogue and Betty also watched as Regan's body landed at the foot of the building.

Essex grinned a bit as he locked eyes with Laura from the distance, wiping Regan's blood from his forehead as Laura ran into the burning pile of rubble that Dopinder's attack had caused.

He climbed back down the building, sadistically saying to himself _"the hunt is afoot, little Wolverine..."_ as he ran in after her with another magazine of Adamantium bullets into his gun. Rogue and Betty ran to Regan's body, the latter struggling to stay alive as the blood continued pouring out of her head-wound.

"I did it, Rogue..." she panted as Rogue took her hand tightly. "I had my moment."

"You sure did, sugar." Rogue said, feeling a tear run down her face as her childhood friend closed her eyes and felt the life leaving her body. Gambit ran over, saying "girls! We gotta get outta here."

Betty looked to see Deadpool, Kitty and Victor leading the children past the dozens of corpses to the tunnel. She then said "wait... where's Laura?"

"Laura?!" Rogue asked concerningly, before glancing over to the raging fire in the rubble. "Oh, God..."


	21. One-On-One

Essex ran into the flaming glade that Laura was hiding in. It was a room full of broken stone statues, each one made in the likeness of a deceased mutant.

Essex scoffed, picking up a metal sword from the ground and shattering an oil lamp with it. With the blade now drenched in the oil, he held it against the flames, turning the sword red hot with fire swirling off of it. He said "where have you gone to, little one?" as he slowly moved around each statue, checking behind it to see if she was there.

"This is where it ends!" Laura said, stepping out from behind a statue of En Sabah Nuh. Essex grinned as he said "indeed. It's all come down to this."

Laura roared wildly as she unsheathed her claws and charged, prompting Essex to swing his flaming blade forward, clashing it against Laura's claws. **_SHING! TWANG! SHING!_** Laura deflected the blade, before jumping into the air and dropping her's down, Essex leaping out of the way as they clashed again.

They came face to face, Essex saying "give up. You'll never be your father!"

"And neither will you!" Laura said, infuriating Essex into pulling his sword down, fusing the searing metal against Laura's shoulder. **_FFFFFSSSSSHHHHH_** went the fusion while Laura screamed out as her flesh was singed, Rogue hearing this from outside the rubble. " ** _LAURA!_** Hold on, I'm coming!"

Rogue sent one of her fists straight through the wall of rubble, sending the flaming rocks flying into Laura and Essex's paths. They dodged quickly, as Rogue flew in and went to Laura. "Come on, we gotta go!"

"ROGUE!" Laura said as she noticed Essex raising the blade behind Rogue. **_FFFF-SLASH!_** went the blade as it sliced down the flesh of Rogue's back, the latter's eyes widening as she clutched the searing wound on her back, landing unconscious on the ground.

 ** _"NNNNNNAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!"_** Laura shrieked in a burning fury as she leaped up with her claws unsheathed, Essex's deflection causing both blades to spark violently. Essex grabbed Laura by the hair and kicked her shin to knock her down.

"It's a shame, isn't it, Laura?" Essex said mockingly as he kicked Rogue's body. "It seems all your heroes seem to die around you, don't they?"

"You... son... of a... **_BITCH!_** " Laura yelled as she charged, tackling Essex to the ground and pounding his face several times. **_SLASH! SWISH! SHING!_** went the claws as they scarred and scratched Essex's face, nearly blinding him with his blood as he grabbed Laura and tossed her against the flaming wall. Laura got up and drop-kicked Essex, who stumbled back a bit before Laura swung a wooden block into his face. A loud **_CRACK!_** was heard as the wood shattered against his cheek, a tooth flew from Essex's mouth to the ground.

Laura unsheathed her claws and swung her fist again, only for Essex to catch it and twist it over her back, throwing her hard on the floor. As Laura struggled to get up, Essex went back to grab his burning blade, grabbing the arm of one of the stone statues. Suddenly, he heard something smash behind her. Essex turned around, noticing that Laura was no longer there. He stood in the centre of the room, surrounded by the statues with his sword still burning.

"Come out, little beastie." he said patronisingly. "Come out, come out, wherever you are. Logan wasn't this much of a coward, you know."

Suddenly, a swishing set of claws dropped down over him, slashing his face as Laura drove her foot claws into his crotch. "AAAGGGGHHHH!" Essex said as he gripped his scarred face and stabbed privates. The cut ran from his forehead and down his left cheek, ending on the end of his chin.

"That was for all the mutants you've enslaved." Laura said as she got up and grabbed Essex, hitting him in the face with her claws unsheathed. His jaw was now hanging loosely on one sides, his cheek being completely opened on the left side.

"That was for _Rogue_." Laura added as she kneed him in the face. "You're a persistent little pain, **_aren't you_**?" Essex spat out as he kicked Laura in the shin, causing her to fall on the ground. Laura looked up venomously, saying "this is for _Rebecca_." before swishing herself in a circle, cutting against Essex's legs.

Essex groaned as he grabbed the girl and headbutted her, before throwing her into a pile of statues. Laura picked up the head of one of the statues, saying "this is for _Gabriela_!" before she hit Essex in the stomach with it and shattered it over his head.

Essex swung the blade again, slashing Laura's stomach before meeting her claws midway. The two stood at a stalemate, their blades sparking and glowing as they struggled. "You think I could care less about any of them!" Essex said as he separated the blades and swung his fist at Laura, who grabbed it and trapped it in an arm lock. She kicked his kneecap to break the leg, as she said "that was for the _Munsons!_ "

"Who?" Essex said as Laura, sensing the opportunity, added "this is for _Caliban_!" before she twisted herself, a loud **_CRUNCH!_** sounding as she broke the arm.

Essex dropped his blade and clutched his broken arm, allowing Laura to swing her claws in a perfect circle, severing the other in the process. **_"RRRAAGGGHHH!"_ ** Essex screamed, before Laura kneed him in the stomach and uppercutted him into the air, slamming against the burning wall.

Laura left one claws out as she clutched her healing injuries, groaning as she said "that was for Charles."

She then grabbed him by the hair, Essex grinning a bit as blood, gums and teeth began leaking out of the torn cheek. She poised her claw upward, and said "and this is for **_LOGAN_**!"

 _"EEEGGGGJJJJAAAAHHHhhhhhhh..."_ Essex wheezed feebly as Laura drove her claws into his neck, the life and blood draining out of him as he collapsed in the corner of the burning rubble, his head rolling to Laura's feet.


	22. Sacrifice

With the soldiers either dead or surrendering, everyone looked to the tunnel where a figure stepped out. Betty and Gambit readied their weapons as the silhouette became more visible.

"Wait! Look, it's Laura!" Rictor said as Laura stepped out, carrying Rogue's body out with her and laying it down. "Oh my God! Rogue!" Betty said as she and Gambit knelt next to Laura, who was desperately trying to revive Rogue.

"Come on, Rogue. Come on!" Laura said as she tugged at Rogue's collar aggressively. Kitty said "oh no..." as Vanessa hugged Wade, who solemnly said "there goes another one."

Laura felt a few tears running down her face as she continued trying to wake her up. "No... no, no!" she continued to wail a bit as Rogue still didn't respond. After a few tearful moments, her eyes widened as she looked at her gloved hands.

"Laura? Laura!" Betty said as Laura gripped the tip of her glove with her teeth, pulling it off of her hand and wrapping her other arm around Rogue. She said "alright. Come on. This has to work." Laura said determinedly as she closed her eyes, gently pressing her bare hand to Rogue's forehead. The others gathered around her as she pressed the hand further onto the head, though Rogue still didn't respond. "Come on. Come on!" she said aggressively, though her efforts seemed to be in vain. She said "no... Rogue, no." as she embraced Rogue tightly, placing her head under Rogue's neck. _"I love you."_

It wasn't working. It seemed that Rogue had joined the other X-Men in death. The children lowered their heads, many of them having seen this before when Logan had died, as Gambit held Betty close and even Victor looked down sadly, all of them watching Laura weeping against Rogue's chest.

"Laura... kid, I uh..." Deadpool tried to say, before Laura suddenly wheezed for breath. _"HHHHEEEEEEEEUuuuuggghhhh..."_ was the noise that she made as she felt her skin tightening. Blood began leaking out all over her body as several wounds on her body were opened. The cut she had made on her wrist, the whip lashes on her back and the slash that Essex's blade had made on her stomach had all stretched open and were leaking out dark crimson blood. Despite the pain she was feeling, a smile only barely formed on her face as she realised that Rogue was absorbing her healing factor. She was alive, and Laura was saving her.

"Holy shit. It's working!" Kitty said in amazement, before Rogue suddenly jolted awake. _"Huuuggghhh-haaarrrggghhh... Huuuggghhh-haaarrrggghhh..."_ Rogue breathed rapidly as she felt the wound on her back stitching back together and the air rushing into her lungs. "Laura. Laura, no! What have you done!" Rogue shrieked as she realised what Laura had done to save her.

Laura grinned a little as she felt her eyes closing, falling out of Rogue's grasp and landing back on the ground in a puddle of blood. "Oh, sweet Jesus." Rogue said as he held the child's body tightly as the other adults tried to hold in the blood. "Dopinder!" Deadpool said. "Bring the jet around!"

* * *

 _ **"Laura."** the familiar voice said, awakening Laura from her sleep. She was in a bright, white room, sitting in what appeared to be a hospital bed. She saw Rogue sitting in the chair next to the bed, sleeping silently as she had her hand near where Laura was. As this was obviously a dream, it was clear that Rogue wouldn't be able to see or hear what Laura was doing._

 _She grinned before the voice said again. "Laura."_

 _She turned slowly, seeing Logan standing on the other side of the bed._ _"Logan..." she smiled as she knelt up in the bed. Logan chuckled, saying "y'did good, Laura. Y'did good."_

 _Laura threw her arms around Logan, who warmly returned the embrace. She said "are we dead?"_

 _"I probably am." Logan answered solemnly. "But you still gotta decide whether or not you wanna come with me."_

 _She chuckled a bit, as she said "y'know, a week ago, there'd be nothing that I'd want more than to come with you, Daddy."_

 _Logan grinned a bit, before glancing to where Rogue was sitting. "The way I see it, you're doing pretty well out here."_

 _Laura nodded a bit, saying "yeah. I guess I am. Guess this is goodbye, huh?"_

 _"Right now, yeah, it is." Logan sighed regretfully. As he turned to leave, Laura leaped out of the bed, hugging him tightly as she said "I won't let you down. I promise. I'll make you proud, Daddy."_

 _Logan chuckled warmly as he went to the door that would take his soul away for a long-deserved rest. He turned to her, saying "you've already made me proud, Laura."_

 _Laura smiled as Logan opened the door, blinding her with the light as she prepared to wake up._

* * *

Laura slowly opened her eyes, finding herself in the X-Men's base again. It was the same bed she woke up in last time, and Rogue was fast asleep next to her just as she dreamed. Laura grinned a bit as she gently touched Rogue's gloved hand to wake her up. **_"YAAAAH! WHAT HAPPENED!"_** Rogue snapped as she shot awake, her eyes suddenly widening joyfully as she said "Laura! Thank God!"

Laura was suddenly wrapped into a tightly warm embrace, Rogue rapidly saying "don't you ever do something that fucking crazy again, y'hear me! Oh God, I'm just so glad you're safe!"

"You did great, kiddo." a gruff voice said, Laura separating from Rogue to see Cable and Mystique in the doorway in front of Gambit, Betty, Vanessa, Dopinder and Deadpool. Cable said "somehow, I just knew y'had it in you."

"I'll admit it." Raven said. "Y'surprised me too. I know if Charles were here, he'd be just as proud of you as the rest of us."

Laura chuckled, saying "thanks, you guys. Where's Victor?"

* * *

Out on the landing deck, Victor prepared to get into a small black jet next to the blackbird, as a voice said "Uncle Victor!"

"Well, look who woke up." he said as he saw Laura running in quickly. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Sinister's dead. My deal with you fellas is done now. I'm heading out on my own way." Victor said, a small grin of pride on his face as he patted Laura affectionately on the head. She laughed a bit, saying "so, I uh... guess you were right about me."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"I'm gonna be the Wolverine now. Logan's legacy, like y'said."

"Legacy? Pah." Victor said as he got into the jet. "If you ask me, Laura. You're way past that point already."

Laura smiled as she stepped back, watching the ship take off and waving to it as it disappeared from sight. "Hey, there you are!" Kitty said as she phased in through the door with Ellie and Rictor. Rictor said "Laura, you were fucking amazing!"

Laura high-fived Rictor, as Ellie said "so, y'ready to join the X-Men, X-23?"

"Wolverine." Laura said proudly. "My codename's Wolverine."

Kitty grinned, before saying "well, if you wanna come with us in the Blackbird, we're gonna take you kids to see the newly-reopened Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters."

Laura's eyes widened, as she said "really?!"


	23. The End

_**Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters - Six Months Later...**_

Laura landed on the leaves, running through the field at her highest speed. She leaped and flipped over a log in her path, launching herself off the bottom of a tree and swinging on a branch across the small river.

Rogue ran behind her, shouting "just a couple more turns!" as she tried to catch up. Laura said back "going high!" as she ran up one of the trees, Rogue sighing as she said "stay low!"

Laura leaped through the trees, her yellow and black costume blending in with the leaves and branches. She eyed the figures running beneath her, swinging from one branch to another, eventually dropping down from the leaves to the students in her path.

"Gotcha!" she said, prompting the students to skid to a halt. "Aw, come on!" one of the younger mutants said, as Rogue finally caught up to the group.

"Alright everybody. Good hustle y'got there. Good hustle!" Rogue said, panting slightly. Laura took off her pointy-eared mask, dusting it a bit before saying "you guys need to use your powers to your advantage. That oughta get you ahead in the future."

Suddenly, they all turned to see Wade collapse in exhaustion as he crawled over to them. "Hey, what the hell, you guys? Whatever happened to jogging exercises?" Wade asked as he struggled to get up, while everyone laughed merrily. "Alright, come on kids. I'll race y'back to the school!" Laura said as she ran ahead, the young students following her as Rogue sat back a bit with Wade.

"They all love her, don't they?" Rogue said proudly, as Wade added "sure they do. She's a chip off the old-block. She did better with 10 lines of dialogue than Wolvie did in 17 years, y'know."

"Yeah, thanks Wade. Fucking moron." Rogue scoffed as she flew past the trees to hover over Laura and the other students. Laura led them to the front of the institute, where she could see Betty reading through an old X-Men comic to some of the first-year students.

 _"And then Logan woke up, but all the Sentinels and all of the problems they'd caused had disappeared."_ she read out loudly, smiling a bit as Laura waved to her, as she continued _"the School was back to normal. Charles was there, and Jean and Scott. Logan felt so good to see everyone."_

As the students went to combat training with Cable and Gambit, Laura separated from the group, throwing her helmet into her bedroom as she passed the classroom where Kitty and Raven were teaching other students. She walked casually outside into the large garden of the mansion. She saw Rictor and Bobby leading the next generation of the X-Men in suiting up as they prepared to train in the danger room, watching from afar as she climbed an old oak tree and sat on the first branch.

She sighed a bit, breathing in the crisp, clear air as she heard the birds tweeting in the sky. "How's it goin', lil' sister?" Rogue said, levitating herself up onto the branch with her. Laura shrugged, saying "not bad. Not bad at all."

"By the way, Betty wanted you to see this." Rogue said as she passed Laura a small pamphlet of paper. "The first issue."

"Is this me?" Laura said excitedly, seeing a drawing of her in her costume, with the title **_THE ALL-NEW WOLVERINE!_** emblazoned over it in blue and gold letters. She almost felt a tear in her eye, as Rogue said "whaddayathink, sugar?"

Laura suddenly hugged her tightly, saying "I love it. I really do."

Rogue returned the embrace, saying "yeah, Laura. We all love you too."

 _This is it_ , Laura thought to herself as she and Rogue looked at the school from the tree-branch. Everything Gabriela, Charles, Caliban and Logan had done for her had led her to this. _Freedom. Family. **Home.**_ And she couldn't possibly ask for anything better.

 _ **THE END**_


End file.
